Irrigation and Nitrogen Management for Sustainable Potato Production under Climate Change Scenario: A Simulation Study

Abstract

Potato growth and development is largely influenced by water and nutrient availability, light and temperature making it highly vulnerable to anticipated climate change. This study is undertaken to simulate the impact of climate change on potato production and to evaluate the various agro-adaptation strategies such as irrigation and fertilizer management. SUBSTOR- potato model was used to simulate the growth and development of potato crop. This study was carried out for Kharagpur conditions in India. Simulation results indicate that 140 kg N/ha applied in 3 split doses gives the highest sustainable yield for both automatic drip and conventional furrow irrigation schemes. Automatic drip irrigation gave 44 % higher yield than conventional furrow irrigation. The study has revealed yield reduction up to 27.81 % and 40.7 % for conventional furrow and automatic drip irrigation respectively in future climate scenario.