Integrated Application of Micronutrients to Improve Growth, Yield, Quality and Economic Yield in Potato - A Review

Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) is a cool season vegetable, grown throughout the world. It is said to be the native of Peru in South America. It is an important tuber crops grown extensively throughout India as well as the world. It is an annual, herbaceous, dicotyledonous and vegetative propagated plant. Potato is high nutrient demanding crop due to underdeveloped and shallow root system. It produces much more dry matter as compared to different cereal crops Because, it removes large amount of nutrients per unit time from per unit area, so therefore, Indian soil are not in condition to fulfill the requirement of nutrients. Hence, it is essential to apply the nutrients from the external sources. High yields can only be obtained through the application of optimal doses of NPK dose in balanced proportion. The efficiency of NPK fertilizers can be further increased by the application of micronutrients. The application of inorganic fertilizers along with micronutrients is considered essential to produce high tuber yield. To improve productivity, potato plant requires a balanced dose of NPK along with adequate amount of micronutrients and macronutrients like boron, sulphur, zinc and manganese. Hence the present information explaining the importance of micronutrients is reviewed here.