Evaluation of BioAg Biotechnical Nutrients in the Production of Seed Potatoes in North India

Transcription

1 Evaluation of BioAg Biotechnical Nutrients in the Production of Seed Potatoes in North India Dr S.K. Barthan Roy, Centre for Strategic Studies, Kolkata, India 1. Introduction In 2011, BioAg Pty Ltd commissioned the Centre for Strategic Studies, in Kolkata, West Bengal to assess the economic benefit of applying biotechnical nutrients to potato crops in Northern India. BioAg is a manufacturer and supplier of biotechnical agricultural fertilisers in Australia. The trials were undertaken in the Karnal District in Haryana, commencing with planting in October 2011, and concluding with the harvest in February Two replicated trials were undertaken, one on G0 tubers and the other on G1, of the variety Kufri Badsha. Five treatments employing BioAg products were undertaken in each trial. 2. Background Biological fertilisers have been recognised as cost-effective inputs in agriculture in developing countries (particularly in South Asian countries, providing soil amendment and enhancing the efficacy of chemical fertilisers. Chemical fertilisers are subsidised by the governments of most of these countries, and represent a significant budget allocation to the agriculture sectors of their economies. In the last 20 years, world fertiliser prices have risen significantly, leading to increased costs of primary production, reduced farm incomes and greater government spending on fertiliser subsidies. As a result, there has been growing government encouragement of farmers to include biological fertilisers in their nutritional inputs. Approximately 1.8 million ha of land is planted to potatoes in India, requiring 2.7 million tonne of high quality seed potatoes each year. Presently, however, only 0.5 million tonne of certified seed tubers are produced, leading to substantial demand pressure. High production costs, disease pressure and severe weather conditions are inhibiting increased production. Quality seed tubers play a vital part in increasing tuber yield and quality. In India potatoes are grown in diverse agro-climatic regions. The major potato growing states such as Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Bihar and Gujarat have warm climates leading to very high disease pressure, and these states are not considered suitable for certified seed potato production. On the other hand Punjab, Haryana, and Himachal Pradesh are cooler and are major seed potato producing areas. Thus, the major potato growing states depend on Punjab and the adjacent states entirely for seed tubers from which are free from soil borne and potato viral diseases. Work undertaken by BioAg in Australia on seed potato production has demonstrated: Improved seed multiplication (tuber induction) Improved dry matter content & specific gravity Improved starch content Reduced the level of soil borne pathogens (scab and erwinia) 1 BioAg Seed Potato Trial North India ( )

2 3. Trial Objectives One of the biggest challenges for seed potato production in North India is that the major production period falls through the winter. Most of the days in middle of the winter (December and January), and the most important tuber bulking period, generally have very low temperatures and very few hours of sunlight. The most favourable temperature range for potato growth is between 15 o and 30 o C. an ambient temperature below 15 o C limits plant growth and tuber bulking. Figure 1 (b) shows that the minimum temperature falls below the critical level from middle of November (30 DAP 1 ) and that the maximum temperature also falls below the critical level on some days. The solar radiation (Figure 1 (a)) also remains low during this period. A few days of sub-zero temperatures are common during the period. This is a major challenge for seed potato production in North India, causing lower yields and discouraging farmers from entering the seed potato industry. The objective of the BioAg technology is to demonstrate that these abiotic stress factors can be ameliorated to improve seed potato production yield and quality. Figure 1 (a) & (b): The distribution of solar radiation and ambient temperature during the seed potato production period in Punjab 1 (a) 1 (b) 1 DAP - days after planting 2 BioAg Seed Potato Trial North India ( )

3 4. Trial Methodology 4.1 Design The design of the trial is shown in Table 1. Table 1.: Trial Design Statistical design Randomised block method Planting date 20 th Oct 2011 De-haulming date 30 th Jan 2012 Harvesting date 13 th - 14 th Feb 2012 No. Treatments 5 No. Replications 4 Potato Variety Kufri Badsha Trial Location Golden Nursery, Karnal, Haryana Site History Previous crop: rice Figure 2.: (a) Trial site at Golden Nursery, Karnal, (b) Land preparation, (c) G0 tubers of K. Badsha (Technitubers ), (d) G1 tubers of K Badsha (a) (b) (c) (d) 4.2 Treatments Details of the five treatments are shown in Table 2. below. T1 is the control (standard North Indian practice as advised by the West Bengal Agriculture Department), and T2, T3, T4, T5 are different BioAg treatments. 3 BioAg Seed Potato Trial North India ( )

4 The trial was designed to test the performance of G0 G1 production and G1 G2 production systems. The G0 tubers were Technituber 2 tubers and the G1 tubers were Technituber derived G1 tubers. Table 2.: Trial Treatments (per ha) Treatment Gypsum Urea DAP MOP ZnSO 4 Calcium Nitrate MgSO 4 Polyfeed Micro nutrients Soil & Seed (l) BioAg Phos B&G (l) F&B (l) Total cost /ha INR T ,450 T ,450 T ,230 T ,730 T , Applications Table 3. Application Times Product Gypsum BioAgPhos Urea DAP MOP ZnSO 4 Calcium Nitrate + MgSO 4 + Poly feed Soil & Seed Balance & Grow Fruit & Balance Time of Application 2 weeks prior to planting Pre-planting 1/3 application at planting 1/3 at 25 days after planting 1/3 at 50 days after planting All at planting 62.5% pre-planting 37.5% 25 days after planting Pre-planting 25 days after planting 4 l pre-planting 8 l at planting 4 l 25 days after planting 4 l 50 days after planting 2.5 l 25 days after planting 2.5 l 50 days after planting 2.5 l 65 days after planting 2 Technituber is a registered trademark of Technico Pvt Ltd 4 BioAg Seed Potato Trial North India ( )

5 4.4 Soil Characteristics Table 4.: Composite Soil Sample Results Parameter Unit Measure ph EC msm N total P inorganic ppm Potassium ppm 16.8 Zinc µg/g 3.07 Iron µg/g 73 Copper µg/g 4.38 Manganese µg/g Results 5.1 G0-G1 Seed Potato Production Figure 3.: Photo Series - G0 G1 Production 3 (a) 3 (b) 3 (c) 3 (d) Key: (a) G0 tubers, (b) 50 days after planting, (c) 75 days after planting, (d) after harvest 5 BioAg Seed Potato Trial North India ( )

6 Figure 4: Distribution of Yield (t/ha), in G0 G1 Production on Five Fertiliser Treatments Yield (T/Ha) K Badsha Yield Distribution (t/ha) Variety K Badsha (G0-G1 Production) Figure 5.: Distribution of Tuber Numbers (tubers/m 2 ) in G0 G1 Production in Five Fertiliser Treatments % Tuber numbers per m 2 (G0-G1 production) variety K Badsha 80% 90% 87% 98% % of the seed size tubers 6 BioAg Seed Potato Trial North India ( )

7 Figure 6.: Distribution of Seed Potato Production Cost per Tonne (G0-G1 Production in Five Fertiliser Treatments) INR per T 180, , , , ,000 80,000 60,000 40,000 20,000 - Seed potato production cost (INR per T) Go-G1 production INR 125,000 INR 135,000 INR 122,727 INR 116,379 INR 160,714 Observations: G0 G1 Production This trial was commenced with planting on 20 th Oct The tuber germination of the G0 seeds, and the initial vegetative growth rate, is generally slower than for other tubers (G1, G2, G3, etc.). The plants had a relatively short period (<30 days) of favourable abiotic conditions (ambient temperature and solar radiation) for tuber bulking. In this season, frosty and foggy weather started earlier than in previous years, and lasted longer until mid January. As a result, the relative yield was lower than in previous years. Late planting and a relatively longer frosty and foggy period were major contributors to the low yield experienced in the G0 G1 production. Table 5.: G0 G1 Production Data - T1 & T4 Treatment Yield (t/ha) Tuber Numbers/ m 2 G1 Production Cost per tonne (INR) Seed Size Tubers (%) T ,000 77% T ,379 87% The table shows that BioAg treatment T4 gave the best outcome with the lowest production cost. Compared with the control (T1), both treatments T3 and T4 produced: Better yield Greater tuber size uniformity A higher percentage of seed-sized tubers Lower production cost 7 BioAg Seed Potato Trial North India ( )

8 5.2 G1-G2 Seed Potato Production Figure 7.: Photo Series - G1 G2 Production 7 (b) 7 (a) 7 (c) 7 (d) Key: (a) G1 seed potatoes (b) 50 days after planting (c) 75 days after planting (d) after harvest Figure 8.: Distribution of Yield (tonne/ha) in G1 G2 Production in Five Fertiliser Treatments Yield (T/Ha) K Badsha Yield Distribution (tonne/ha), variety K Badsha (G1--> G2 production) 8 BioAg Seed Potato Trial North India ( )

9 Figure 9.: Distribution of Tuber Multiplication (tubers/m 2 ) in G1 G2 Production in Five Fertiliser Treatments Tuber Numbers per m 2 (G1-G2 production) variety K. Badsha Figure 10.: Distribution of Seed Potato Production Cost per Tonne (G1-G2 Production in Five Fertiliser Treatments) INR per T 11,600 11,400 11,200 11,000 10,800 10,600 10,400 10,200 10,000 9,800 INR 11,417 Seed Potato production cost (INR per T) G1-G2 production INR 10,691 INR 10,790 INR 10,473 INR 11,530 Observations: G1 G2 Production The trial has demonstrated significant improvements in G1 G2 production using the BioAg treatments compared with the control. Table 6.: Comparison of Treatment Costs and Yields G1 G2 Treatment Production Cost per tonne (INR) Yield tonne/ha Tuber Numbers per m 2 T1 11, T2 10, T3 10, T4 10, BioAg Seed Potato Trial North India ( )

10 The applications of Soil & Seed (T2), Soil & Seed plus BioAgPhos (T3), and Soil & Seed plus BioAgPhos plus BioAg foliar applications (T4) have stimulated early vegetative growth and subsequent tuber production as measured by tonnage and tuber numbers produced. Tuber multiplication, an important industry quality parameter, was also increased. 6. Conclusion Seed Potato Production Cost Table 7. shows a comparison of the cost of production of G0 G1 and G1 G2 seed potatoes. It demonstrates that, except in one case (G0 G1 T2), by providing increased yields and tuber numbers, the BioAg treatments lowered the costs of production compared with the standard district fertilisation practice and thus the profitability. Table 7.: Production Cost Comparison G0 G1 Production G1 G2 Production Treatment Seed Cost/tonne Profitability Seed Cost/tonne Profitability T1 (control) 125,000 11,417 T2 135,000-8% 10,691 6% T3 122,727 2% 10,790 5% T4 116,379 7% 10,478 8% In each case, the best results were obtained employing BioAg treatment T4. In G0 G1 production, treatment T4 improved the profitability by 7%, and in G1 G2 production, T4 improved the profitability by 8%. Although the increases appear relatively small, they represent significant economic gains for Indian potato growers. 10 BioAg Seed Potato Trial North India ( )

11 7. Appendix Statistical Analysis a) G0-G1 -Variety K Badsha Yield F Value Null Hypothesis Statistically Insignificant Tuber Numbers F Value Null Hypothesis Statistically Insignificant b) G1-G2 -Variety K Badsha Yield F Value Null Hypothesis Statistically Insignificant Tuber Numbers F Value 3.82 Null Hypothesis Statistically Significant under 97.5% confidence Interval Research Co-ordinator Dr S.K. Barthan Roy Centre for Strategic Studies AE 697, Salt Lake City Kolkata, West Bengal India Australian Contact Upul Gunawardena Market Development Manager (Asia) BioAg Pty Ltd Twynam Street Narrandera NSW 2700 BioAg, Soil & Seed, Balance & Grow, and Fruit & Balance are registered trademarks of BioAg Pty Ltd, Australia. 11 BioAg Seed Potato Trial North India ( )