What is the yield of potatoes from 1 hectare of land

Potatoes are an important food crop. She comes first among all vegetables. This is confirmed by statistics, which says that the average European eats more than 80 kilograms of this product per year.

Content:

• Useful properties of potatoes
• The yield myth
• How to increase the yield of potatoes from 1 hectare?
• What do potatoes like?
• Ways to increase potato yield

Therefore, farmers will always strive to increase the yield of potatoes from 1 hectare of land. Potatoes have long become an integral product for humanity in all countries. And for us it is the second bread, because it can be found on almost every table and in various dishes.

Useful properties of potatoes

Potato tubers are rich in starch, proteins, fats, mineral salts and vitamins.

Potatoes also have a healing effect. Its juice treats stomach ulcers, gastritis, constipation, lowers blood pressure. Potato gruel is effective for burns and eczema. This plant is also used in cosmetology: nourishing masks are made from its tubers.

The yield myth

At all times, people have looked for ways to increase crop productivity. Potatoes are no exception in this case. Every gardener dreams of planting a small amount of potatoes and getting high yields.

Previously, it was believed that if you break off flowers and berries, then the yield from 1 hectare will become higher, but already in 1960 this myth was dispelled. It became clear that this method is ineffective and the presence of flowering does not take away strength from the tubers.

How to increase the yield of potatoes from 1 hectare?

So what can boost yields? What should you pay attention to? What factors affect the amount of the crop? Every farmer or gardener has his own method, developed over the years.

But they all directly depend on such circumstances:

• the quality of the planting material;
• its preparation for landing;
• technology landing potatoes;
• place in the crop rotation;
• the region where the culture grows;
• weather conditions and regularity glaze;
• soil quality;
• introduction fertilizers;
• plant care;
• timely fight against pests.

If we take Russia, then the average yield of potatoes from 1 hectare of land in the fields is from 15 to 20 tons. These are very small numbers. Indeed, in fact, the harvest can be an order of magnitude higher. But private farmers achieve harvests of up to 50-80 tons on the same hectare thanks to the latest varieties and technologies of planting and growing potatoes.

What do potatoes like?

Potatoes love light. With its lack, the stems will stretch and turn pale, the plant will develop poorly and will tie up few tubers. Naturally, in such conditions, you will not get a good harvest.

The plant feels best at a temperature of 18-21 degrees during flowering and 16-18 degrees during tuber formation. If the temperature is higher, then the flowers and buds crumble, the development of tubers slows down, which significantly reduces the yield. At temperatures below zero, the plant dies.

In order for the potato to develop normally, it is necessary to evenly moisten the soil: the plant does not tolerate both drought and excess moisture.

The potato root system requires a lot of oxygen. Therefore, to get a good result, potatoes must be planted in loose, fertile and structural soil.

Ways to increase potato yield

Several methods are known to increase the yield of potatoes and the quality of tubers. In addition, these methods help to reduce the time and effort spent on caring for the plant.

Basically, to increase the yield of potatoes, the distance between the plants is increased. In this case, more light will come to them, and they will begin to develop better.

Mittlider method

An American vegetable grower suggests planting potatoes in half-meter-wide ridges with wide aisles (up to a meter). To save water, the perimeter of the site is fenced off with earthen rollers. Plants need to be watered regularly and fed three times per season. Mittlider does not spud potato bushes. With this method, the size of the area allocated for planting potatoes is reduced by 3 times, and the yield is significantly increased. Using the Mittleider method, you can get 55 tons of potatoes from 1 hectare.

Gülich method

Gulikh recommends dividing the site into 1x1 meter squares. In each square, he places humus and plants a large tuber with the top down. After the emergence of shoots in the center of the bush, he pours loose soil: the stems will begin to deviate to the sides. The pouring procedure is repeated several times until a multi-tiered bush is formed. If the plant is provided with sufficient water and moisture, then one bush can produce about 16 kilograms of tubers.

Dutch technology

Recently, the Dutch technology of growing potatoes has gained wide popularity.

Secrets of Dutch technology:

• For planting, only productive Dutch varieties are used, yielding up to 40 tons per hectare.
• Only healthy planting material is grown, having a diameter of 3-5 centimeters and 100% germination.
• Seed material is etched using special preparations.
• Tubers are planted in ridges 25 centimeters high with a row spacing of 65-80 centimeters.
• Herbicides and preparations that destroy pests and viral diseases are introduced in a timely manner.
• Plants are watered at least 3 times.
• The soil is aerated by loosening.
• The tops are harvested 10-12 days before the tubers are harvested.
• An efficient crop rotation is observed. The potatoes are planted in their original place no earlier than after 3 years. Winter spring crops are used as precursors of potatoes.

The Dutch method allows you to collect at least 2 kilograms of potatoes from one bush. In addition, all tubers with such cultivation are large and selective, have high taste and are perfectly preserved in winter.