The Effect of Plant Spacing and Crop Geometry on Growth, Yield and Quality of Potato Cultivars (Solanum tuberosum L.)

Abstract

A field experiment entitled "The Effect of Plant Spacing and Crop Geometry on Growth, Yield and Quality of Potato Cultivars (Solanum tuberosum L.)" was conducted at the Instructional Farm of the School of Agricultural Sciences, Dabok, Janardan Rai Nagar Rajasthan Vidyapeeth (Deemed-to-be University), Udaipur, Rajasthan, during the Rabi season of 2024-25.The experiment was laid out in a split-plot design with four plant spacing treatments as main plots and six potato varieties as sub-plots, replicated three times.The main plot treatments included four plant spacing: 45 cm 20 cm (S), 45 cm 25 cm (S), 60 cm 20 cm (S), and 60 cm 25 cm (S).The sub-plot treatments included six potato varieties: Kufri Atlantis (V), Kufri Frysona (V), Kufri Manik (V), Kufri Sukhyati (V), Kufri Pushkar (V), and Kufri Lima (V).The results revealed that plant spacing of 60 cm 25 cm (S) recorded the maximum plant height (58.3 cm), number of leaves per plant (32.5), leaf length (14.8 cm), leaf width (8.9 cm), number of stolons per plant (8.7), tuber diameter (6.8 cm), tuber length (9.4 cm), weight of tuber per plant (585.4 g), total soluble solids (5.8 Brix), dry matter content (21.8%), and benefit-cost ratio (4.53).However, plant spacing of 60 cm 20 cm (S) recorded the maximum yield per plot (16.2 kg), yield per hectare (243.2 q), gross returns ( 364,800 ha), and net returns ( 279,600 ha).Among the varieties, Kufri Lima (V) recorded the maximum plant height (60.2 cm), number of leaves per plant (33.8), leaf length (15.5 cm), leaf width (9.3 cm), number of stolons per plant (9.2), tuber diameter (7.1 cm), tuber length (9.8 cm), weight of tuber per plant (598.2g), yield per plot (17.9 kg), yield per hectare (268.9 q), total soluble solids (6.0 Brix), dry matter content (22.5%),net returns ( 318,850 ha), and benefit-cost ratio (4.71).