Silicon Fertiliser in Potatoes
By:Serve-Ag
Trial Objective
The overall objective of this crop demonstration was to investigate the effects of a soil-applied silicon fertiliser on potato production.
Materials and Methods
The MaxSil™ product used in the demonstration was supplied by Advanced Crop Nutrition Pty. Ltd. (APN). It was formulated as a granular product of dark brown to grey colour. MaxSil™ has a soluble silicon content of approximately 3,000ppm. MaxSil™ has been granted certification as an „allowed input‟ by the Biological Farmers Association.
MaxSil™ was trialled in three processing potato crops grown in fertile red ferrosol soils in northern Tasmania over the 2010/11 growing season. The trial sites were all located a few kilometres outside of Deloraine.
Heavy rainfall events across Tasmania this season combined with cooler than normal temperatures have created undesirable growing conditions in many regions of the state. This is likely to impact on our results and has made it difficult to draw confident conclusions from the results in any fertiliser trials conducted this season.
Discussion and Results
The MaxSil™ fertiliser had a positive influence on yield in two out of the three crops it was trialled in. The product was trialled in two „Russet Burbank‟ potato crops and one „Ranger Russet‟ variety potato crop, all grown for processing for Simplot Pty Ltd. There did not appear to be any varietal differences in the results. The MaxSil™ in one „Russet Burbank‟ crop produced significantly better yields, while the other „Russet Burbank‟ crop yielded less in the treated area. In the „Ranger Russet‟ crop the treatment did have a positive influence on yield; however this was only small and was not significant.
It is important to note that the 2010-2011 growing season was a challenging one for potato producers in northern Tasmania and the product was applied much later than would be ideal ranging between 58 and 79 days after planting. It is likely that these factors have influenced our results.