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Effects of addition of boron on potato plant production

The production of potato plants (Solatium tuberosum L.) grown in alluvial soils of the Rio Paraíba Valey in the State of São Paulo, is not always correlated with high N-P-K fertilization. This has been reported to be due to boron deficiency in these soils. The effect of addition of boron at different rates (10, 20, 30 and 40 kg of borax / ha) applied in mixture with common NPK formulation in the furrow at planting time, as side dressing or by spraying, was studied in an area where symptoms of deficiency was observed in Aquila potato variety, in the previous year. An increase in the production of about 20 % was obtained with the addition of 10 or 20 kg of borax / ha in mixtures with NPK fertilizing formulation but not with the two higher doses. The same amount of borax applied by spraying also increased yield but at a lesser extent and the side dressing technique was less effective than the other two methods of application of borax.


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