Air Injection of Subsurface Drip Irrigation Water Improves Tuber Yield and Quality of Russet Potato
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SHORT COMMUNICATION
Air Injection of Subsurface Drip Irrigation Water Improves Tuber Yield and Quality of Russet Potato Samuel YC Essah 1
&
David G. Holm 1
Accepted: 13 July 2020 # The Potato Association of America 2020
Abstract Irrigation water for potato production is becoming an issue in most irrigated production regions. Producing potatoes under drip irrigation has proven to reduce irrigation water use. However, tuber productivity has to increase under drip irrigation to offset the initial cost of installing the drip system. Ambient aeration of drip irrigation water may improve tuber yield and quality. A field study was conducted at Colorado State University’s San Luis Valley Research Center, Colorado, USA, to evaluate the effect of ambient air injection of subsurface drip irrigation water on leaf growth and tuber performance of potato cultivar Rio Grande Russet. Treatments included aerated and non-aerated drip irrigated plots that were randomly assigned within four replicated blocks. The Mazzei Venturi system was inserted in the main drip line to inject ambient air into drip tapes that supplied aerated water to the air injected treatment plots. Plants that received aerated drip irrigation water produced higher total tuber yield and increased the yield of large marketable size (> 170 g and > 285 g) tubers compared to plants grown under non-aerated drip irrigation water. The yield increases were, 8%, 19%, and 5%, for total, > 170 g, and > 285 g tuber yield, respectively. Early tuber bulking was observed, Leaf Area Index increased, and root mass production increased in plants that received aerated drip irrigation water compared to plants that received non-aerated irrigation water. Tuber external defects (growth cracks, knobs, and misshapes) were reduced by 9.2% in tubers produced under aerated drip irrigation water. Data from this study clearly indicate that ambient air injection of subsurface drip irrigation water can improve potato productivity and tuber quality. AJPR-D-20– 00030R1. Resumen El agua de riego para la producción de papa se ha vuelto un tema en la mayoría de las regiones de producción de riego. La producción de papa bajo riego por goteo ha probado que reduce el uso del agua de riego. No obstante, la productividad de tubérculo se tiene que incrementar bajo riego por goteo para compensar el costo inicial de la instalación del sistema de goteo. La aireación ambiental del agua del riego por goteo pudiera mejorar la calidad y rendimiento de tubérculo. Se condujo un estudio de campo en el Centro de Investigación del Valle de San Luis, de la Universidad Estatal de Colorado, EUA, para evaluar el efecto de la inyección del aire ambiental en el agua de riego por goteo subsuperficial en el crecimiento foliar y en el comportamiento del tubérculo, de la variedad de papa Rio Grande Russet. Los tratamientos incluyeron lotes de riego por goteo aireados y no aireados que fueron asignados al azar en bloques replicados cuatro veces. Se insertó el sistema Mazzei Venturi en la principal línea de goteo para inyecta
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