EFFICIENCY OF FOLIAR APPLICATION OF TENSO-COCKTAIL MICROFERTILIZER IN CULTIVATION OF THE CAVALIER POTATO VARIETY IN THE FOREST-STEPPE ZONE OF THE SOUTHERN URALS

This article presents the results of field experiments to study the efficiency of foliar application of the microfertilizer Tenso-cocktail, containing microelements in water-soluble (B – 0.52 %, Mo – 0.13 %) and chelated form (Ca – 2.57 %, Fe – 3.84 %, Mn – 2.57 %, Cu – 0.53 %, Zn – 0.53 %), when cultivating the Cavalier potato variety (mid-season ripening period). Top dressing of plants during the initial period of potato budding increased the leaf area by an average of 1.94 thousand m2 /ha (5.7 %), extended the active work of the leaf apparatus by 2 days against the background of "no fertilizers", by 5 days against the background of N121P135K133, and by 7 days against the background of N253P256K279, and the economic productivity of leaves by 1.7 %, 5.6 and 8.4 %, respectively, compared to the control. As a result, an increase in tuber yield was noted by an average of 4.33 t/ha (or 12.1 %), and the greatest effect was recorded in the dense planting variant (75 × 14 cm) against an increased nutrition background (N253P256K279), where the yield increase compared to the control was 6.61 t/ha. In addition, a reliable increase in marketability (by 0.7 %) and survivability of tubers during winter storage (by 0.7 %) was noted. The dry matter content in tubers with the use of Tenso-Cocktail microfertilizer increased by an average of 0.7 %, starch – by 0.46 %, while the accumulation of nitrates decreased by 9.2 mg/kg (12.6 %) compared to the control option, where microelements were not used. The use of Tenso-Cocktail for foliar treatment of plants was accompanied by a reliable increase in seed productivity of potatoes (on average by 27.6 % or by 80.0 thousand tubers/ha).