Effects of precision potato planting using GPS-based cultivation

Abstract

Site-specific management provides the ability to align the production intensity to demand and thus adjust the expenses to the necessary level. So it is possible to increase the proportion of marketable commodity in the normal sort–size of 40 mm to 60 mm. Planting distances adapted to the soil properties seem to achieve this objective. It is possible to further optimize the proportion of marketable commodity especially in the potato regions where irrigation and fertilization already contribute to a consistently high yield. Different planting distances on the soil sites by EM38 were tested in field trials. Planting distances of 31.50 cm in the row on the light (sandy) soil, 24.50 cm on middle and 27.50 cm on the heavy soil sites seems the best for these three years. There is a yield impact in total, as well as in the proportion of marketable commodity. Depending on the planting strategy, increases in income up to €153 per hectare can be obtained.