Abstract:

To explore the effects of different degrees of fertilizer reduction and compost application on potato yield and quality in semi-arid areas of Ningxia, the potato cultivar ‘Qingshu 9’ was used as the test material, and a single factor randomized block design was used to set up six fertilizer reduction treatments, namely CK (single application of chemical fertilizer), T1 (chemical fertilizer reduction 10%+ composting 30000 kg/hm²), T2 (chemical fertilizer reduction 20%+ composting 30000 kg/hm²), T3 (chemical fertilizer reduction 30%+ composting 30000 kg/hm²), T4 (chemical fertilizer reduction 40%+ composting 30000 kg/hm²) and T5 (composting 30000 kg/hm²). The results showed that the yield of T4 treatment was significantly higher than that of other treatments, and the highest yield was 30434.85 kg/hm², which was 106% higher than that of CK treatment. In terms of quality, with the increase of chemical fertilizer reduction, the contents of potato starch, Vitamin C and soluble sugar decreased first, then increased and then decreased. Among them, the quality of T4 treatment was the best, and the contents of starch, Vitamin C and soluble sugar were 23.33 g/100 g, 24.73 mg/100 g and 1.00%, respectively. Through principal component analysis of yield and quality indicators, T4 treatment with 40% reduction of chemical fertilizer was the optimal treatment. Under the condition of semi-arid area in Ningxia, the goal of high yield and high quality can be achieved when the chemical fertilizer is reduced by 40%.

Key words: fertilizer, composting, potatoes, yield, quality