Analysis of the impacts of technological implementation on the productivity and quality of seed potato tubers

Abstract: Potatoes are the most vulnerable crops to climate change in terms of various physiological processes. The implementation of technology in seed potato cultivation was done by installing clear plastic shade on crops and installing black plastic mulch on raised beds. The plastic shade helped in reducing the amount of sunlight intensity received by plants in the range of between 651-1435 lux; maintaining the temperature between 21-28 ^oC and the relative humidity of the environment between 55-82 %. On the other hand, the plastic mulch helped in controlling the growth of weeds and controlling the amount of water in the soil, especially in the root zone at field capacity, and maintained soil temperature at the fixed root zone at 12-24 ^oC. Plant growth was influenced by seed quality, soil temperature, and soil moisture content. The combination of plastic shade and mulch plastic technology on potato seed cultivation increased the quality of plant growth measured from the total biomass weight of 17.2 %. The rate of plant growth directly influenced the productivity of the tuber, which increased by 3.3 %.