Effect of levels of potassium and irrigation on Crop growth rate of potato

Experiment was conducted at water management field of RAU, Pusa (Samastipur), Bihar on calcareous sandy loam soil, alkaline in nature having pH 8.5, low nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium in split plot (4.2 x 2.4 m2) design, replicated thrice to evaluate the performance of potato on four levels of irrigation on the basis of IW/CPE ratio (I1, I2, I3 and I4 i.e., 0.6, 0.8, 1.0 and 1.2, respectively) in main plots and five levels of potassium (K0, K1, K2, K3 and K4 i.e., K2O @ 0, 50, 100, 150 and 200 kg ha-1) in sub plots during 2005-06 and 2006-07. It was observed that the value of C.G.R. and L.A.I. increased with increasing levels of both irrigation and potassium application, at all the period of crop growth during both the years. It was also apparent that I3 and I4 levels were statistically at par and significantly superior to I1 level of irrigation. Whereas, K3 and K4 levels were observed at par and significantly superior to both K0 and K1 levels of K-application. The values for both the parameters increased upto 60 DAP and then declined up to harvest stages of crop growth.