By Fatima Muraina
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Select a Suitable Land for Growing Potatoes
Potatoes require adequate access to sunlight and can be grown in an open area. It can grow any type of soil, except saline and alkaline soils and , make sure the soil has good drainage and proper aeration.
How to Prepare Land for Planting Potatoes:
It involves clearing the farm and ploughing the soil. You need to harrow the soil with a hoe or plough until it is completely free of weed roots.
You can incorporate fertilizer into the soil at this stage and also prepare seedbeds for the potatoes.
You need to decide on the potato variety you want to plant.
There are different types to choose from, however, you have to consider some of these factors;
Factors to consider when choosing potato variety for cultivation
You must consider the disease resistance of the variety
The time it takes to reach maturity
You must also consider the level of productivity or yield of the potato
Check what is the overall quality of the potato it produces.
Selecting the Best Potato Variety for Cultivation
As you already know, there are different varieties of seed potatoes available in Nigeria.
Some are local and while others come from other countries.
When to Cultivate and How to plant potato:
While Sweet Potatoes is grown by planting stems from matured plants, Irish potatoes require seed propagation.
Potatoes may be planted as soon as you can till the land, but keep soil temperatures in mind.
Potato plants will not begin to grow until the soil temperature has reached 45 degrees F.
The soil should be moist, but free from water logging to avoid rotting the seed potato
How to Apply Fertilizer in Potato Farming Business:
Growing potatoes (Solanum tuberosum) so they become big requires proper preparation of the soil at planting time.
While preparing the soil, adding lots of potassium and nitrogen helps them get off to a strong start.
Later in the season, the potato plants require an additional shot of fertilizer to form large tubers.
Generally, the type and quantity of fertilizer to use depend on the results of soil tests.
You can increase the fertility of the soil by using cover crops, organic fertilizers, and non-organic fertilizers.
Non-organic, fertilizers contain chemicals that may burn seed potatoes. So, the best time to apply them is before planting.
Use a combination of broadcasting and side-dressing methods of fertilizer application to apply fertilizers to your potato.
This is typically more effective than using only one of those fertilization methods.
How to Harvest the mature Potato:
Harvesting your potatoes depends majorly on the weather conditions, the growth season, and the tuber size you desire.
Maturity period for growing potatoes is usually 3 to 4 months after planting.
Before you begin harvesting, wait until the tops of the vines die down and begin to wither.
Potatoes are tubers and you want your plant to store as much of that flavorful starch as possible.
Once the foliage turns brown, you should start preparing for harvest.
Usually, the harvest is done on a sunny day when the soil is slightly dry but not compact.
In the process of harvesting these potatoes, ensure there is minimal damage to the tubers before storage.
This will prevent the tubers from rotting quickly when in storage.
Harvesting is best done when the soil is slightly moist to prevent abrasion and the tubers are lifted carefully to avoid damage.
Ideally, they should be left to dry for a few hours in the field, collected in field containers, and placed in a cool, shady place.
Potatoes for food (ware potatoes) must not stay under sunlight for more than a few hours otherwise they turn green, develop an unpleasant taste, and may become toxic.
