Academic Research Journal of Agricultural Science and Research
 

Academic Research Journal of Agricultural Science and Research 

Vol. 5(6), pp. 425-439. October, 2017.

ISSN: 2360-7874 

 DOI: 10.14662/ARJASR2017.056

Full Length Research

Water stress as a component of climate change affects potato growth, tuber yield and processing quality

Fekadu Gebretensay Mengistu¹ and Brian Grout ²

¹Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR), Kulumsa Agricultural Research Center (KARC), P.O.Box 489, Asella, Ethiopia. E-mail: fgebretensay@yahoo.com

²University of Copenhagen, Faculty of Life Science, Department of Agriculture and Ecology, Crop Science, Højbakkegård Allé 13, DK-2630 Taastrup, Denmark.

Accepted 4 October 2017

The effect of water stress measuring 80-100 kPa soil water tension was studied on a Danish processing potato variety known as 'Royal' to investigate the response of potato plant to transient and fluctuated water stress at early and late growth stages. The stress was imposed for 10 and 15 days at full emergence and tuber-bulking stages, and fluctuated throughout the growing period. The effect of the stress at full emergence was significant (P<0.05) on plant height, number of main stems per plant and tuber fresh weight. However, the stress at tuber-bulking stage did not show significant effect on plant height and number of main stems but on tuber fresh weight and different quality parameters. The highest tuber fresh weight reduction (40%) was accounted to fluctuated water stress as compared to the transient stress treatments which caused 7-18% yield reduction. Quality parameters such as tubers' specific gravity, dry matter, and starch concentration were significantly (P<0.05) affected when the stress was imposed at tuber-bulking stage. The highest reduction was caused by fluctuated water stress followed by the transient stress treatments. Likewise, tubers' sugar concentrations were significantly (P<0.05) increased by the stress at tuber-bulking stage, although an increase in the level of the sugar did not cause significant browning on potato chips. The study concluded that, the effect of early water stress at full emergence is more on vegetative growth and tuber yield than quality compared to its effect at tuber-bulking stage; while fluctuated water stress caused more severe effect on both yield and quality than that of the transient water stress.

Key words: browning; drought; reducing sugars; Solanum tubersosum; transient and fluctuated water stress; tuber-bulking; vegetative.

How to cite this article: Mengistu FG, Grout B (2017). Water stress as a component of climate change affects potato growth, tuber yield and processing quality. Acad. Res. J. Agri. Sci. Res. 5(6): 425-439

FULL TEXT [PDF]