Multi-objective optimization of water and fertilizer management for potato production in sandy areas of northern China based on TOPSIS

• Published in: Field crops research 2019-07, Vol.240, p.55-68
• Main Authors: Wang, Haidong, Wang, Xiukang, Bi, Lifei, Wang, Ying, Fan, Junliang, Zhang, Fucang, Hou, Xianghao, Cheng, Minghui, Hu, Wenhui, Wu, Lifeng, Xiang, Youzhen
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Fertilizer rate; Irrigation amount; Irrigation frequency; Potato; Quality; Yield
• ISSN: 0378-4290; 1872-6852
• DOI: 10.1016/j.fcr.2019.06.005

•Drip irrigation frequency, amount and fertilizer rate effects on potato were studied.•Irrigation frequency had extremely significant effects on potato growth, yield and quality.•Full irrigation 1.0 ETc obtained the highest yield, quality and partial factor productivity.•Yield and WUE increased as the amount of fertilizer increased.•The best combination of three factors for multi-objective optimization was put forward. Sandy areas in the northern China are the primary regions for potato production, but limited water resources and low water/fertilizer use efficiency limit the sustainable development of agriculture. Field experiments were conducted during 2016–2017 to investigate the effects of different drip irrigation frequencies, water amounts and fertilizer rates on the yield, quality, water and fertilizer productivity of potato in the sandy areas of northern China. The water and fertilizer treatments were evaluated using the TOPSIS method to obtain the optimal combination of irrigation frequency, water amount and fertilizer rate for multi-objective optimization. The irrigation frequency included once every 4 days (D4), once every 8 days (D8) and once every 10 days (D10). The irrigation levels consisted of full irrigation (1.0 ETc, ETc is the crop evapotranspiration), medium irrigation (0.8 ETc) and low irrigation (0.6 ETc). The fertilizer (N-P2O5-K2O) levels included low fertilization (F1, 100-40-150 kg ha−1), medium fertilization (F2, 150-60-225 kg ha−1) and high fertilization (F3, 200-80-300 kg ha−1). The results showed that there were significant effects of the irrigation frequency (IF), irrigation level (IL) and fertilization level (FL) on potato growth, yield, quality, water and fertilizer productivity. Using the same irrigation frequency and fertilization level, the highest tuber yield, starch content, vitamin C and partial factor productivity (PFP) were obtained under the full irrigation (1.0 ETc). However, the irrigation water use efficiency (IWUE) decreased as the water supply increased. In addition, these indicators under deficit irrigation increased with the increase in irrigation frequency at the same fertilization level, but the indicators of D8 were the highest under the full irrigation. Under the same irrigation frequency and irrigation level, the tuber yield and IWUE increased as the fertilization rate increased. However, the PFP decreased as the fertilizer rate increased. The trends in plant height, LAI, dry matter accumulation, plant y