The effect of integrated tillage of light soil on potato yields

Excessive compaction of soil has an adverse effect on its aggregate structure, and as a result also on the yields of various crops. To prevent this negative impact, diverse methods of limited tillage are applied. However, these methods are not effective when cultivating sandy soils of very low natural porosity. An original integrated tillage method for such soils has been developed at the Poznań University of Life Sciences. This paper presents a comparison of yields and quality of three popular potato cultivars following the application of conventional and integrated tillage methods. The experiment shows that integrated tillage contributes to an increase in potato yield by providing better conditions for tuber growth.