Application of biomodified materials for potato cultivation

This paper presents the effects of biomodified materials (BMs) on the development and productivity of potato varieties of a varying maturity, grown in 2022 using BMs as an insecticidal plant protection product (PPP) against wireworms. BMs of varying composition were added to the soil. BMs included the biomass of a microbial complex, immobilised on a carrier material made of a mixture of vermiculite and brewers’ grains. The bacterial-fungal complex contained the biomass of the entomopathogenic micromycete Beauveria bassiana in combination with the entomopathogenic bacteria Bacillus thuringiensis or the ligninolytic actinobacteria Pseudonocardia carboxydivorans. A comparative analysis using the phenological and biometric observations revealed no significant changes in the development of potato plant between control and BM-treated potato varieties. We identified a positive effect of BMs on the potato productivity, which reduced damage from wireworms. Yields increased by 9–31 % in the BM-treated potato samples. Biomodified materials also improved biochemical parameters of tubers in early and middle-early potato varieties.