PILLALA RUPESH, SANDEEP MENON AND HINA UPADHYAY*
Department of Agronomy, School of Agriculture, Lovely Professional University, Phagwara-144 411 (Punjab), India
*(e-mail: hina.18745@lpu.co.in: Mobile: 90392 39832)
(Received: June 10, 2023; Accepted: July 28, 2023)
ABSTRACT
To counter the requirement of nutrient demand by the potato crop, the experimental field trial was conducted at Lovely Professional University, Agriculture Research Farm in Punjab, India. The experiment was carried out using the randomized block design (RBD) with three replications and seven treatments. The treatments were; T1: Control, T2: 100% recommended dosage of fertilizers (RDF), T3: 50% RDF + orthophosphoric acid, T4: 50% RDF+ 85% humic acid), T5: 50% RDF + Eco-acid (78% organic acid) @ 1.0 l/ acre, T6: 50% RDF + Eco-acid (78% organic acid) @ 2.0 l/ acre and T7: 50% RDF + Eco-acid (78% organic acid) @ 4.0 l/acre. Morphological and physiological parameters were analyzed. T6: 50 % RDF + Eco-acid (78% organic acid) @ 2.0 l/acre was one of the most effective treatments for plant height, number of leaves, fresh weight, dry weight and chlorophyll content (using SPAD), leaf area index (LAI) in different time intervals viz., 30, 60, 90 DAP, and even in the number of tubers, starch content and yield. Contrarily, T1: Control was the least performing in all the parameters where neither fertilizer nor any organic acid was used.
Key words : Organic acid, foliar application, crop growth and development, sustainability, crop production, potato