~ 2040 ~ International Journal of Chemical Studies 2020; 8(2): 2040-2042 P-ISSN: 2349–8528 E-ISSN: 2321–4902 www.chemijournal.com IJCS 2020; 8(2): 2040-2042 © 2020 IJCS Received: 16-01-2020 Accepted: 17-02-2020 Shanwaz A Assistant Professor, Department of Vegetable Science, College of Horticulture, Mudigere, Karnataka, India Devaraju Assistant Professor, Department of Vegetable Science, College of Horticulture, Mudigere, Karnataka, India Srinivasa V Professor and Head, Department of Vegetable Science, College of Horticulture, Mudigere, Karnataka, India Ganapathi M Assistant Professor Department of Crop Physiology, College of Horticulture, Mudigere, Karnataka, India Shubha AS Research Scholar, Department of Vegetable Science, College of Horticulture, Mudigere, Karnataka, India Corresponding Author: Shanwaz A Assistant Professor, Department of Vegetable Science, College of Horticulture, Mudigere, Karnataka, India Influence of foliar application of nutrients on growth, yield and quality of potato ( Solanum tuberosum L.) under hill zone of Karnataka Shanwaz A, Devaraju, Srinivasa V, Ganapathi M and Shubha AS DOI: https://doi.org/10.22271/chemi.2020.v8.i2ae.9055 Abstract A field experiment was conducted to know the “Influence of foliar application of nutrients on growth, yield and quality of potato (Solanum tuberosum L.)” at College of Horticulture, Mudigere during 2017- 18. The results revealed that foliar applications of micronutrient mixture @ 5g/lit recorded significantly higher plant height (38.67 cm), number of leaves (108.20), number of stem (5.27), plant spread (47.57 cm), Leaf area index (3.34), fresh weight of leaf (30.99 g), fresh weight of stem (73.47 g), dry weight of leaf (7.06 g), dry weight of stem (11.54 g), dry weight of root (4.87 g), total dry matter production (23.47 g/plant) with respect to growth parameters. Yield and quality parameters viz. similar treatment recorded maximum number of tubers per plant (2.89), number of tubers per plot (86.70), yield per hectare (20.80 t/ha), tuber volume (124.98 cc), tuber weight (98.65 g),tuber circumference (14.90 cm) and total sugars (2.41%) as compared to control. Keywords: Micronutrient, potato Introduction Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) is the world’s fourth important food crop after wheat, rice and maize because of its great yield potential and high nutritive value. In Karnataka potato being one of the most important short duration cash crops. The average yield of potato in Karnataka state is much lower (14 t ha -1 ) as compared to national average. At present, to fulfill the needs of increasing population, one of the possibilities is to increase the area as well as productivity. However, for increasing productivity and quality, nutrition is a key factor in production technology will have to be given emphasis, to produce higher yields of good quality tubers by evolving fertilizer schedules that are suited to specific agro-ecological situations. It is now established that, fertilizer is a kingpin in the process of improving yield and quality of any crop. The sources of nutrients especially that of major nutrients do have an effect on plant growth, yield and quality of the crop. In view of these facts, the study was under taken to know the effect of foliar application of nutrients on yield and quality of potato. Material and Methods The soil of the experimental area was sandy loam having good physical and chemical properties and pH of the soil was 6.2. This experiment was undertaken to find out the best nutrient formulation to obtain good growth, yield and yield attributes in potato. The design followed was RCBD (Randomized Complete Block Design) with 12 treatments replicated thrice in a plots of 2 m x 1.8 m size with 60 x 20 cm spacing during Kharif 2017. The treatments included under the study were, T 1 (control) - RDF (FYM 25 t/ha + N:P:K at 100:75:100 kg/ha), T 2 - T 1 + Calcium nitrate 0.3%, T 3 - T 1 + Calcium nitrate 0.5%, T 4 - T 1 + Magnesium sulphate 0.3%, T 5 - T 1 + Magnesium sulphate 0.5%, T 6 - T 1 + Zinc sulphate 0.3%, T 7 - T 1 + Zinc sulphate 0.5%, T 8 - T 1 + Potassium schoenite 0.3%, T 9 - T 1 + Potassium schoenite 0.5%, T 10 - T 1 + Boron 0.1%, T 11 -T 1 + Boron 0.2%, T 12 - T 1 + Micronutrient mixture 0.5% (Fe, Cu, Mo, Mn, B, Zn). Nutrient formulation were applied 15 and 30 days after sowing of tubers. Observations for growth parameters was recorded at 60 days after planting and mean data and mean of the five plants was used for analysis.