Effect of seedpiece spacing and nitrogen fertilization on tuber yield, yield components, and nitrogen use efficiency parameters of two potato cultivars

The effect of seedpiece spacing on the efficiency of nitrogen (N) use by the potato crop is generally unknown. The objective of this experiment was to determine the effect of seedpiece spacing on tuber yield, yield components and N use efficiency parameters of two potato cultivars. Potato cultivars Atlantic and Shepody were grown at two rates of N fertilization (0 or 100 kg N ha^?1) and three seedpiece spacings (20, 30, or 40 cm) in 2000 to 2002. Wider seedpiece spacing increased mean tuber weight and the number of tubers per stem, but decreased total tuber yield. The higher tuber yield at the narrow seedpiece spacing was attributed to higher biomass production in combination with lower tuber specific gravity. Seedpiece spacing had no consistent effect on plant N accumulation, and therefore no consistent effect on N uptake efficiency (plant N accumulation /N supply from the soil plus fertilizer). However, a small increase in soil NO₃-N concentration in the hill at topkill at wider seedpiece spacing suggested plant N accumulation was slightly reduced at wider seedpiece spacing, but at a level that could not be detected from a plant-based measure of N accumulation. The reduced dry matter accumulation, but similar plant N accumulation, resulted in lower N use efficiency (plant dry matter accumulation / N supply) at wider seedpiece spacing. Wider seedpiece spacing also resulted in generally lower values of N utilization efficiency (plant dry matter accumulation / plant N accumulation) for the 40-cm compared with the 20- and 30-cm seedpiece spacings. Effects of seedpiece spacing on N use efficiency parameters were generally consistent across cultivars and fertilizer N rates. Wider seedpiece spacing did reduce the efficiency of N use by the potato crop; however, the magnitude of the effect was small under the conditions of this study.