The potato tuber content of microelements as affected by organic fertilisation and production system

The objective of the work was to determine the effect of undersown catch crops, which were either autumn-incorporated or left on the soil surface as mulch for spring incorporation, on the microelement content in the tubers of potato cultivated in the integrated and organic production system. Field research was conducted at the Zawady Experimental Farm owned by Siedlce University of Natural Sciences and Humanities, Poland (52° 03′ 39″ N, 22° 33′ 80″ E). The following two factors were examined in the study: (i) organic fertilisation, control, farmyard manure, serradella, westerwolds ryegrass, serradella applied as mulch and westerwolds ryegrass applied as mulch and (ii) production system, organic and integrated. Microelements (B, Cu, Fe, Mn, Zn) were determined in potato tubers samples. The tubers of potato manured with autumn-incorporated serradella had the highest iron and zinc contents, whereas tubers following autumn-incorporated serradella and spring-incorporated serradella mulch had the highest boron content. Manuring with undersown catch crops and farmyard manure contributed to a decline in the potato tuber content of copper and manganese. Potato cultivated in the integrated production system contained more copper, manganese and zinc, whereas organic tubers had more iron and boron.