Potato Production - Leaving Cert Ag Science

Vocabulary flashcards covering potato classification, cultivation, seedbed preparation, fertilisers, diseases, pests, harvesting, and storage based on Leaving Cert Ag Science notes.

Solanacae

The botanical family to which potatoes belong.

Solanum tuberosum

The scientific name for the potato.

Tuber Crop

A root crop grown for underground storage organs, such as potatoes.

Potato Plant Structure

An annual plant structure comprising flowers, fruit, leaves, stem, mother tuber, stolons, roots, and tubers.

First Earlies

Potato varieties planted in February and harvested immaturely from May onwards, such as Home Guard and Epicure.

Second Earlies

Potato varieties planted in February and harvested immaturely from May onwards, such as British Queen and Maris Piper.

Main-Crop

Potato varieties harvested when fully mature in September and October, such as Kerr's Pink, Golden Wonder, Cara, and Rooster.

Certified Seed Potato Production

Potato seed production centered in Donegal due to windy conditions keeping aphid populations low and geographical isolation preventing disease spread.

Aphids

Insects that act as vectors (carriers) of several plant viruses.

Soil Suitability (Potatoes)

Deep, well-drained loams or sandy loams with a soil pH of $5.5 - 6$.

Crop Rotation (Potatoes)

A practice vital to prevent the build-up of potato cyst nematode; potatoes should not be grown in the same field more than once every $4$ years (or once every $5$ years for seed potatoes).

Seedbed Preparation (Potatoes)

Practices including deep cultivation, ploughing to a depth of $22\,\text{cm}$, rotovating, bed formation in spring, stone and clod removal to prevent tuber bruising, and sowing $10\,\text{cm}$ below the ridge.

Plough

An agricultural tool used to break up large soil clods by turning over the top layer of soil, creating a clean, fertile seedbed and burying weeds or crop residues.

Harrowing

A form of secondary cultivation performed after ploughing to break up surface soil further and create a fine, even seedbed.

Potato Planter

Equipment that digs furrows for air and water access, drops seed potatoes, and covers them to establish good seed-soil contact.

Sprouting

The practice of exposing seed potatoes to light so they develop shoots, which speeds up growth, improves yield, and gives seeds a head start.

Compound Fertiliser (10:10:20)

A balanced fertiliser ($\text{N:P:K}$) placed in a band on either side of the potato drill by commercial growers to promote uniform growth.

Sulfate of Potash

A fertiliser additive that increases the dry matter content of potatoes, counteracting watery potatoes caused by excess nitrogen and phosphate.

Weed Control (Potatoes)

Spraying with a contact herbicide to kill plant foliage and a residual herbicide to prevent weed seeds from germinating until the potato crop recovers and shades out weeds.

Earthing Up

The process of making ridges deeper by covering haulms with soil to prevent tuber greening caused by exposure to sunlight.

Haulms

The above-ground stems and foliage of growing potato plants.

Blight

A fungal disease caused by an airborne fungus, characterized by dark brown/black lesions on leaves; favoured by warm, humid weather and treated with fungicide sprays every $10$ days upon Met Office warnings.

Blackleg

A bacterial disease spread through contaminated seed, causing an inky-black, slimy rot at the stem base, yellowing, upward-curling leaves, stunted growth, and premature plant death in cool, wet weather.

Wireworms

Pests that reduce potato yield by eating young potatoes and leaves, particularly when potatoes are grown after pasture.

Slugs

Pests that cause damage to potato tubers, especially during wet summers.

Potato Harvesting Process

Killing haulms with herbicide and leaving tubers for $3$ weeks to harden their skins before harvesting with an elevator digger.

Elevator Digger

A mechanical implement used to dig up and harvest potato tubers from ridges.

Potato Storage Requirements

Purpose-built buildings that are well-ventilated, leakproof, insulated, and frostproof, or refrigerated units; tubers are often sprayed to prevent sprouting.

Potato Crop Yields

Yields of around $7 - 10\,\text{tonnes per hectare}$ for first and second earlies, and $30 - 40\,\text{tonnes per hectare}$ for maincrop.