Potato Review

www.potatoreview.com POTATO REVIEW JULY/AUGUST 2021 9 SOIL HEALTH L OOKINGahead inpreparation for potato harvest, getting your plants in goodnutritional standing, will only bene t crophealth, quality and yield. Growers should bemindful that recent weather conditions are such that crops are now accelerating through growth stages. During rapid growth it’s vital to ensure nutritional elements are at optimum levels, which canbe achieved by monitoring the plants nutrient levels using a crop nutrition sampling service.Where de ciencies are identi ed, foliar application is in order. Foliar application is recommended as plants that grow rapidly often struggle to nd enoughnutrition in the soil at the right time. A foliar treatment can be applied inwith the blight spray, making it the optimumtime to apply any extra nutrition. Make sure you consider your P&K requirements which are particularly important for tuber bulking anddrymatter formation in the tuber. When growing shy breeding varieties, and seed crops, consider an additional Foliar P application at tuber initiation and repeat 14 days later, thiswill help optimise root development and therefore tuber numbers. is is especially important on soils that have poor rooting as a result of the prolongedwet weather inMay. Bemindful that it’s now too late for an application of nitrogen, application nowwill increase top growth, delay maturity anddelay senescence. Contact the liquid fertiliser experts: Call: 01526 396000 Email: agriculture@omex.com Visit: www.omex.com SPONSORED BY Pioneering plant health Topical crop nutrition advice to boost plant health and improve crop yield from Crop Nutrition Agronomist, Scott Baker meaning the application of expensive fertiliser is both nancially risky and may not match crop requirement,” said Susan. Having nailed down the scienti c process using Cornish soil samples, the researchers worked with Vital Spark Creative to produce an analytical kit which would be relatively easy to use in the eld. “ ere are lots of di erent elements to the kit; if you’re not a chemist it’s pretty involved,” says Chris Booker, Director at Vital Spark Creative. “We tried to make it user friendly, so that farmers can easily use it on the farm.” So how does it work? “You put a small soil sample into the bottle and mix it with an extraction solution before passing it through a lter,” he said. “You then add various chemicals to get the nal result, which is analysed in a colorimeter so the result is easy to read.” e results are very precise, but can also be translated into a phosphate index if desired. “ e attraction of it, beyond speed, is that this test may well prove more accurate for di erent soil types,” said independent agronomist Tim Martyn. “ e phosphate fertiliser recommendations in the Nutrient Management Guide (RB209) are not soil type speci c. Given the limited world phosphate supplies, more accurate measurement means we can be much more e cient with these resources, particularly in developing countries. It’s really exciting.” While precision farming techniques like soil and crop scanning and conductivity tests enable variable rate nitrogen applications, analysing phosphate will likely always require a physical soil sample to be taken, said Susan. is test could therefore form the basis of more e cient applications across the UK and further a eld. “By not over-fertilising, farmers will be saving money and potentially reducing phosphate loss to watercourses, which causes damaging pollution via eutrophication and resultant algal blooms.” Once the kit is acquired, each test costs pence rather than several pounds for a laboratory analysis. Although it’s not yet commercially available, the team is seeking additional funding to bring it to market, and hopes to undertake further research to produce tailored fertiliser recommendations for di erent crops and soil types. e Agri-Tech Cornwall project is an £11.8m initiative, which concluded in June, supporting research, development and innovation into agricultural technologies that boost the agricultural, horticultural and food sectors in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly – and are also applicable nationally and internationally. Part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund, with match-funding from Cornwall Council, the Council for the Isles of Scilly and delivery partners, it helps small and medium-sized companies and organisations develop ideas to improve e ciency, pro tability and resilience. “Given the limited world phosphate supplies, more accurate measurement means we can be much more e cient with these resources.” Tim Martyn, Agronomist “By not over-fertilising, farmers will be saving money and potentially reducing phosphate loss to watercourses.” Dr Susan Tandy, Soil Scientist Chris Booker, Director, Vital Spark Creative Dr Susan Tandy, Soil Scientist Tim Martyn, Agronomist