05/20/05 Study on short potato rotation impacts

Bryan Hopkins thinks it's a mistake for growers to plant potatoes on as many acres as they can, as often as they can. Over time the mistake leads to diseases and other pressures in the field. The University of Idaho potato cropping specialist is about to embark on a three-state study to compare 54 fields where potatoes are grown every year or two with 54 fields where they're grown at long rotation. HOPKINS "Over the past ten years it's been in potatoes at least five times. That's going to be my criteria for short rotation. And for the long rotation it hasn't been in potatoes any more than three times in twelve years." When this project is completed we may have a better understanding of how rotation lengths affect potato quality and yields. HOPKINS "You can't just go out to a field as so 'oh it's in bad shape and it's because of the short rotation.' Well it could be a hundred other things that could be causing it to be quote unquote bad shape. So we have to find fields next to it to or close to it that has had similar soil, similar other factors and about the only thing different between field A and field B is one's in a long rotation history and one's in a short rotation history." The $180,000 USDA funded study involves scientists from Oregon State and Washington State universities. Today's Idaho Ag News