The Effects of Chicken Manure and Potassium Fertilizer on Yield and Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Potassium, Zinc and Copper Uptake of Potato

Use of organic manure can improve yield of agricultural products for sustainable agriculture. This research was conducted to study the effects of Chicken manure and Potassium fertilizer on yield and uptake of some nutrients by Potato in a factorial experiment with a randomized complete block design that replicated three times for two years in Tajarak research station, Hamedan Province. The Chicken manure had four levels (0, 5, 10 and 15 T/ha) and Potassium fertilizer had three levels (0, 50 and 100 kg/ha) as Potassium sulfate. In flowering stage, shoot yield and nutrient concentrations was determined by sampling. Yield of potato tubers and nutrient concentrations of tubers were also determined after harvesting. Combined data of two years of experiment showed that the main effect of chicken manure on the potato tubers and shoot yield and also the nutrient concentrations were significant. The main effect of potassium sulfate was only significant on the copper and zinc concentrations of tubers and the shoots. Consumption of 50 kg/ha potassium sulfate made maximum concentration of copper and zinc in tubers and shoots. Use of 5 T/ha chicken manure caused the highest yield equal to 44.7 T/ha. The maximum nutrient concentrations in tubers and shoots and maximum yield of shoots was obtained with application of 15 T/ha chicken manure. Therefore, in the soil conditions similar to this research, using 5 T/ha chichen manure could cause considerable increase in tuber yield.