Potato trial with Polysulphate
12
Nakuru, Kenya 2018
12
Key Conclusions
Polysulphate increased the tuber yield by 12% compared with the farmers’ practice while also reducing fertilizer costs by 23%. Overall, Polysulphate increased the net income by 13.1% compared with the farmers’ practice.
Objective
To investigate the efficiency of Polysulphate as a sulfur source which also includes potassium, magnesium, and calcium, and to compare it with the farmers’ practice which uses ammonium sulfate nitrate as a source of sulfur for potato crops.
Trial Details
Trial station
Nakuru, Kenya
Crop
Potato
Product
Polysulphate®
Assessments
Yield and grading
Treatments
The trial utilized a randomized block design, with 2 treatments and 4 repetitions. The nitrogen and phosphorus applications were maintained at 121 kg N/ha and 92 kg P2O5/ha in both of the fertilizer treatments.
Treatment | Fertilizer | Dose | Application | SO3 | K2O | Mg | Ca |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
kg/ha | kg/ha | kg/ha | kg/ha | kg/ha | |||
Farmers’ practice | DAP | 200 | At planting | 41.2 | 0 | 0 | 32.2 |
ASN | 150 | At planting | |||||
ASN | 150 | Top dressing | |||||
CN + boron | 125 | Top dressing | |||||
Polysulphate | DAP | 200 | At planting | 62.5 | 14.5 | 7.5 | 21.4 |
Urea | 80 | At planting | |||||
Polysulphate | 125 | At planting | |||||
Urea | 106 | Top dressing |
Treatments
The trial utilized a randomized block design, with 2 treatments and 4 repetitions. The nitrogen and phosphorus applications were maintained at 121 kg N/ha and 92 kg P2O5/ha in both of the fertilizer treatments.
Treatment | Fertilizer | Dose | Application | SO3 | K2O | Mg | Ca |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
kg/ha | kg/ha | kg/ha | kg/ha | kg/ha | |||
Farmers’ practice | DAP | 200 | At planting | 41.2 | 0 | 0 | 32.2 |
ASN | 150 | At planting | |||||
ASN | 150 | Top dressing | |||||
CN + boron | 125 | Top dressing | |||||
Polysulphate | DAP | 200 | At planting | 62.5 | 14.5 | 7.5 | 21.4 |
Urea | 80 | At planting | |||||
Polysulphate | 125 | At planting | |||||
Urea | 106 | Top dressing |
Results
- The application of Polysulphate increased the tuber yield by 12% compared with the farmers’ practice
- The distribution of tuber size was similar in both treatments
- The Polysulphate treatment reduced fertilizer costs by 23%
- Polysulphate increased the net income by 13.1% compared with the farmers’ practice