Resumo

SIFUENTES IBARRA, Ernesto et al. Nutrition of potato crop (Solanum tuberosum L.) under climate variability in "Valle del Fuerte", Sinaloa, Mexico. Rev. Mex. Cienc. Agríc [online]. 2013, vol.4, n.4, pp.585-597. ISSN 2007-0934.

The traditional management of potato cultivation is becoming less functional due to the high climatic variability in the production areas of northwestern Mexico, which provoke an excessive application of inputs, pollution and low profitability. In order to improve this, we generated a methodology that helps to bind the demand of nutrients to the climate through self-adjusting functions based on the concept of degree-day (°D), derived from the extraction curves. The work was carried out in the north of Sinaloa during two autumn-winter agricultural cycles (AW), 2008-2009 and 2009-2010, in the INIFAP-CIRNO-CEVAF. In the first cycle we obtained base curves of nutrient extraction (BC) for the Alpha variety under drip irrigation; in the second cycle we validated the BC with the Fianna variety under surface irrigation by an experiment with three treatments (T) in a randomized complete block arrangement. T1 was fertilization with NPK according to BC (245, 30, 350 kg ha^-1) while T2 consisted of fertilization using BC+20% (294, 36, 420 kg ha^-1) and T3 consisted of BC-20% (196, 24, 280 kg ha^-1). Total nutrient extraction was similar in all treatments; however, the absorption rate was different in the initial stages of cultivation. Because the difference at T2 was significant with respect to tuber yield and quality, the mathematical functions were generated from it, obtaining R² values greater than 0.8. The methodology was successfully tested on two commercial plots.

Palavras-chave : growing degree-days; fertilization; self-adjusting functions.