Effect of Balanced Doses of Mineral Fertilizers and Weather Conditions on the Yield of Different Potato Varieties

In 2022–2024, in the forest-steppe zone of the Chelyabinsk region, leached medium loam chernozem showed high responsiveness of new potato varieties of Ural breeding to the use of balanced doses of mineral fertilizers. The effectiveness of fertilizer application depended on the weather conditions of the growing season. In the conditions of excessively wet 2024 (HTC = 2.56), fertilizers based on a yield of 40 t/ha (on average for 3 years – N97P113K102) increased the yield of tubers of the early Argo variety by an average of 20.7 t/ha, based on a yield of 60 t/ha (N232P238K249) – by 30.6 t/ha compared to control. In the medium-early Shah variety the yield increases from the studied fertilizer doses were 17.6 and 22.8 t/ha, respectively, in the medium-ripened Sapphire variety – 8.4 and 14.4 t/ha. In the conditions of drought in 2022 (HTC = 0.67), the first dose of fertilizers increased the yield of Argo varieties by 4.5, Shakh – by 11.0, Sapphire – by 6.6 t/ha, the second dose – by 14.4, 17.5 and 14.5 t/ha, respectively. In the conditions of a lack of precipitation in the first half of the 2023 growing season and excessive moisture in August, the yield increase of the Argo variety from fertilization at a dose of N97P113K102 was 6.1, Shakh – 8.8, Sapphire – 7.5 t/ha relative to the control. The increased dose of fertilizers (N232P238K249) ensured an increase in the yield of tubers of the Argo variety by 12.9, Shakh – by 17.5, Sapphire – by 11.9 t/ha. The thickened potato planting scheme (75 × 19 cm) in the conditions of 2023–2024 caused an increase in the effectiveness of mineral fertilizers: in the Argo variety – by 1.41–1.55 times, in the Shakh variety – by 1.51–1.54 times, in the Sapphire variety – by 1.62–1.74 times compared to conventional planting (75 × 27 cm). In conditions of uneven humidification in 2023 (HTC = 1.47), the late planting date (May 29) provided the highest yield of tubers and an increase in the effect of the use of mineral fertilizers, whereas in 2024, the maximum productivity of the studied potato varieties and the greatest yield increases from fertilizers were obtained at the first planting date (May 28).