Effects of Climatic Conditions and Agronomic Practices on Health, Tuber Yield, and Mineral Composition of Two Contrasting Potato Varieties Developed for High and Low Input Production Systems
Gultekin Hasanaliyeva,
Ourania Giannakopoulou,
Juan Wang,
Marcin Barański,
Enas Khalid Sufar,
Daryl Knutt,
Jenny Gilroy,
Peter Shotton,
Halima Leifert,
Dominika Średnicka-Tober,
Ismail Cakmak,
Levent Ozturk,
Bingqiang Zhao,
Per Ole Iversen,
Nikolaos Volakakis,
Paul Bilsborrow,
Carlo Leifert,
Leonidas Rempelos
Affiliations
Gultekin Hasanaliyeva
Nafferton Ecological Farming Group, School of Agriculture, Food and Rural Development, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU, UK
Ourania Giannakopoulou
Nafferton Ecological Farming Group, School of Agriculture, Food and Rural Development, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU, UK
Juan Wang
Nafferton Ecological Farming Group, School of Agriculture, Food and Rural Development, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU, UK
Marcin Barański
Department of Clinical Nutrition, College of Health Science and Technology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200025, China
Enas Khalid Sufar
Nafferton Ecological Farming Group, School of Agriculture, Food and Rural Development, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU, UK
Daryl Knutt
Nafferton Ecological Farming Group, School of Agriculture, Food and Rural Development, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU, UK
Jenny Gilroy
Nafferton Ecological Farming Group, School of Agriculture, Food and Rural Development, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU, UK
Peter Shotton
Nafferton Ecological Farming Group, School of Agriculture, Food and Rural Development, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU, UK
Halima Leifert
Nafferton Ecological Farming Group, School of Agriculture, Food and Rural Development, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU, UK
Dominika Średnicka-Tober
Nafferton Ecological Farming Group, School of Agriculture, Food and Rural Development, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU, UK
Ismail Cakmak
Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences, Sabanci University, 34956 Istanbul, Turkey
Levent Ozturk
Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences, Sabanci University, 34956 Istanbul, Turkey
Bingqiang Zhao
Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning (IARRP), Chinese Academy of Agricultural Science (CAAS), Beijing 100081, China
Per Ole Iversen
Department of Nutrition, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, University of Oslo, 0312 Oslo, Norway
Nikolaos Volakakis
Nafferton Ecological Farming Group, School of Agriculture, Food and Rural Development, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU, UK
Paul Bilsborrow
School of Natural and Environmental Sciences, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU, UK
Carlo Leifert
Department of Nutrition, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, University of Oslo, 0312 Oslo, Norway
Leonidas Rempelos
Nafferton Ecological Farming Group, School of Agriculture, Food and Rural Development, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU, UK
Modern potato varieties from high-input, conventional farming-focused breeding programs produce substantially (up to 45%) lower yields when grown in organic production systems, and this was shown to be primarily due to less efficient fertilization and late blight (Phytophthora infestans) control methods being used in organic farming. It has been hypothesized that the breeding of potato varieties suitable for the organic/low-input sector should (i) focus on increasing nutrient (especially N) use efficiency, (ii) introduce durable late blight resistance, and (iii) be based on selection under low-input conditions. To test this hypothesis, we used an existing long-term factorial field experiment (the NEFG trials) to assess the effect of crop management practices (rotation design, fertilization regime, and crop protection methods) used in conventional and organic farming systems on crop health, tuber yield, and mineral composition parameters in two potato varieties, Santé and Sarpo mira, that were developed in breeding programs for high and low-input farming systems, respectively. Results showed that, compared to Santé, the variety Sarpo mira was more resistant to foliar and tuber blight but more susceptible to potato scab (Streptomyces scabies) and produced higher yields and tubers with higher concentrations of nutritionally desirable mineral nutrients but lower concentrations of Cd. The study also found that, compared to the Cu-fungicides permitted for late blight control in organic production, application of synthetic chemical fungicides permitted and widely used in conventional production resulted in significantly lower late blight severity in Sante but not in Sarpo mira. Results from both ANOVA and redundancy analysis (RDA) indicate that the effects of climatic (precipitation, radiation, and temperature) and agronomic (fertilization and crop protection) explanatory variables on crop health and yield differed considerably between the two varieties. Specifically, the RDA identified crop protection as a significant driver for Santé but not Sarpo mira, while precipitation was the strongest driver for crop health and yield for Sarpo mira but not Santé. In contrast, the effect of climatic and agronomic drivers on tuber mineral and toxic metal concentrations in the two varieties was found to be similar. Our results support the hypothesis that selection of potato varieties under low agrochemical input conditions can deliver varieties that combine (i) late blight resistance/tolerance, (ii) nutrient use efficiency, and (iii) yield potential in organic farming systems.
