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current study on using red clover with potatoes



Published in Agron. J. 95:1089-1092 (2003).

PRODUCTION PAPERS
Red Clover–Potato Cultivar Combinations for Improved Potato Yield
A. V. Sturz*,a, W. Arsenaultb and B. R. Christieb
a Prince Edward Island Dep. of Agric. and Forestry, P.O. Box 1600,
Charlottetown, PE, Canada C1A 7N3
b Agric. and Agri-Food Can., Crops and Livestock Res. Cent., 440
University Ave., Charlottetown, PE, Canada C1A 4N6

* Corresponding author (avsturz@gov.pe.ca).

Received for publication May 30, 2002.

ABSTRACT

One of the challenges to potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) production
systems is to reduce N applications without incurring any marketable
yield penalty. From previous studies, it was established that red clover
(Trifolium pratense L.) can encourage the development of beneficial
rhizobacterial communities that promote potato growth and development,
in essence making agricultural soils as or more productive for specific
quality attributes. In the present 2-yr study, we examined the influence
of the red clover cultivars AC Charlie, AC Endure, AC Kingston, Atlas,
Marino, and Prosper on the potato cultivars Kennebec, Russet Burbank,
and Shepody, grown in the following season. We found that the preceding
clover cultivar had no influence on either Kennebec or Russet Burbank.
However, Shepody potato following AC Kingston showed a significant yield
advantage (P = 0.05), in tonnes per hectare, over other clover cultivars
(except Atlas) in the Size 2 category of tubers (tubers >51 mm in diam.
and <280 g), the grade for which growers are characteristically paid the
most. We encourage breeding programs to examine the ability of any given
line to manipulate its root zone microflora with respect to its own
needs and to those of subsequent crops. While the complexities of
plant–soil–microbial interactions are great, the beneficial biological
interactions that stimulate crop yields and improve plant health can be
evaluated relatively simply, and general management strategies can be
devised accordingly for any given set of crop combinations

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