All about potatoes.pdf - Vegetableipmasia.org

5.
CULTIVATION PRACTICES
5 CULTIVATION PRACTICES
5.1 Choice of location
What are the best conditions for potatoes to grow? Potatoes can grow well in areas
with:
• An elevation of more than 800 meters above sea level. Under Indonesian upland
conditions, the best elevation is over 1,300 meters above sea level.
• Daily temperatures ranging between 10-22°C, with an average of 15°C.
• Around 12 hours of daylight a day.
• Adequate water supply. This could be high rainfall of around 1,500-5,000 mm, with
a balanced pattern of rainfall between the dry and rainy seasons. In areas with
relatively low rainfall, irrigation management is a crucial factor. The best potatoes
are grown in dry irrigated land.
• Friable sandy soil that contains organic matter so it is highly fertile and drains well.
• Soil free from bacterial wilt, nematodes and viruses, particularly when cultivating
seed potatoes.
5.2 Potato varieties
In their place of origin (South America), there are many potato varieties, some of
which are indigenous varieties and others of which are hybrids. Thousands of
varieties with their manifold strengths and weaknesses are cultivated in South
American countries.
Farmers in Indonesia plant very few varieties. The most commonly cultivated
varieties in Indonesia are Granola, Atlantic, and Columbus. Atlantic and Columbus
have almost the same characteristics, but both of these differ from Granola, which is
the preferred and most easily marketed potato variety for Indonesian farmers as it is
familiar and easily marketed. Table 8 shows the differences in the characteristics of
potato varieties commonly grown in Indonesia.
5.3 Field preparation
5.3.1 Tilling the soil
Preparing fields for potatoes requires heavy tillage turning the soil over. You can use
hoes, tractors or ploughs in tilling to a depth of around 20 -50 cm. Hoes are usually
used when tilling the soil to a depth of 50 cm. This is done in two stages: the first is to
a depth of 20 cm, and then the second is digging and turning the lower layer of soil
over for a further 30 cm.
When tilling the field, remove unwanted weeds, especially grasses. Collect the
weeds and burn them after they are dry. Another method is to bury them more than
50 cm down so they cannot grow again. Leave tilled soil for one week in order to
neutralize soil temperature before planting any potatoes.
The benefits of tilling by turning over soil are:
• It allows other parts of the soil to be planted thus maintaining soil fertility.
• It improves the condition of the soil.
• It controls weeds.
• It exposes pests and diseases present in the soil to sunlight and causes them to
die.
A HANDBOOK TO THE ECOLOGY AND INTEGRATED MANAGEMENT OF POTATO 23