Does it make sense to form ridges before planting?
The yield and quality of potato tubers determine the level of profitability and economic feasibility of growing potatoes. Industrial potato growing has accumulated a lot of scientific and practical experience and developed modern industrial growing technologies. But the process of learning does not stop there; new varieties and new elements of technology are introduced into production every year.
Today, the technology of soil cultivation for potatoes is being debated, with some preferring autumn ridging, while others prefer to limit themselves to fall plowing, leaving cultivation and ridging for spring.
The root system of potatoes is underdeveloped and accounts for only 8-12% of its aboveground mass. About 90% of the root system is concentrated in the top 0-20 cm of soil, in the volume limited by the perimeter of the ridge. That is why it is so important that the soil has enough free space for the development of the root system, stolons and potato tubers.
Loosened soil is characterized by high heat capacity, moisture capacity and air capacity. In such soil, the processes of aeration and moisture supply are activated, and the best conditions are created for the life of microorganisms that convert organic matter into easily soluble mineral compounds available to plants.
Maintaining the soil density in the ridge within 1.0-1.2 g/cm³ throughout the entire potato growing season allows you to get a high yield of potatoes:
- Get a high yield of tubers of the best quality.
- Increase the productivity of machinery.
- Reduce the consumption of fuel and lubricants.
- Minimize the injury rate of tubers.
- Reduce the cost of electricity and manual labor for sorting and sorting tubers.
- Ensure the suitability of tubers for long-term storage and their high marketability.
It has been proven that potato yields can be increased by 30-40% only by improving the physical properties of the soil.
There is no doubt about the effectiveness of autumn ridging for potatoes in the Kherson region, and it is unacceptable to postpone this operation until spring. Autumn cutting of ridges allows to start planting potatoes 6-7 days earlier, thus extending the growing season, maximizing the use of winter-spring soil moisture reserves, which is very important for the formation of the crop in the conditions of annual precipitation deficit. But the question remained open for a long time: "What can be changed and improved at this stage of soil preparation to ensure that we have well-cultivated, physically ripe, better warmed soil for the potato planting period?"
As already mentioned, it is not worth hoping that the soil will naturally structure over the winter. Many clods, right up to harvesting and sorting, remained the same as they were before the ridges were cut. Such a clump will certainly have a negative impact on the quantity and quality of the harvest, increase production costs and reduce the economic efficiency of potato cultivation.
Therefore, the formation of the soil structure necessary for potatoes is a matter of basic tillage. In order not to spend extra effort and money on this process, it is worthwhile to peel the stubble to a depth of ≈10 cm immediately after harvesting the predecessor.
2-3 weeks after stubble peeling, plowing is carried out, always with skimmers and rollers, to a depth of 30-32 cm. The advantage of plowing is to ensure that plant residues are fully incorporated into the soil and to cover the soil to the full depth of the arable layer. The soil structure created by plowing allows to increase and qualitatively improve the absorption capacity of precipitation, nutrients, mineral fertilizers, which contributes to better development of the root system and potato plants in general.
Plowing, creating favorable conditions for the decomposition of plant residues (stubble, straw), improves the phytosanitary condition of the soil.
In order to ensure a fine, lumpy soil structure throughout the growing season, the plowed soil should be developed to this structure before the autumn ridge cutting.
Given that the average daily yield increase on a well-maintained agro-physical background, under optimal moisture conditions, can reach 1-1.2 t/ha, it is not difficult to understand how the yield shortfall can be due to only one factor - improper soil preparation for autumn ridge cutting.
Soil with a fine-cloddy structure retains moisture longer, the root system covers the full volume of the ridge, and absorbs nutrients better. Well-developed plants with their powerful vegetative mass shade the soil, protecting it from overheating and excessive evaporation of soil moisture, the active vegetation of plants lasts longer, and a higher yield of better quality is formed.
The problem of clods is not limited to yield shortfalls. As already noted, production costs associated with transportation, sorting and removal of land to the field increase, tubers injured by the lump are poorly stored and sold at a lower price, and the yield of substandard potatoes increases.
With the ridges cut in the fall, potato planting can easily begin much earlier and be completed in optimal time.
