Soil cultivation for potatoes. A global survey of cultivation practices

TY - JOUR

T1 - Soil cultivation for potatoes. A global survey of cultivation practices

AU - Stalham, Mark A.

AU - Slack, Shaunagh

AU - Barrett, Ryan

AU - Bhattacharyya, Ranjan

AU - Cavalieri-Polizeli, Karina M.V.

AU - del Río, Rosario Fuentes

AU - Kirkwood, Iain

AU - McPhee, John E.

AU - McWilliam, Simon

AU - Pavek, Mark J.

AU - Rahmati, Mehdi

AU - Rios, Lautaro

AU - Speed, Kirstie

AU - Steyn, Martin

AU - Thornton, Mike

AU - Tillier, Lucy

AU - White, Barry

AU - Wright, Philip

AU - Zhao, Ying

AU - McKenzie, Blair M.

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2026 Published by Elsevier B.V.

PY - 2026/1/16

Y1 - 2026/1/16

N2 - Papers on potato cultivation experiments rarely provide detailed information about the type and number of cultivation operations used. There is a need to document best practice for cultivating soil for potato production. A global survey was conducted to document the types, frequency and depths of cultivation systems used for potato production in different regions, and to identify representative cultivation sequences used in current commercial practice. Analysis of 65 survey responses representing the major global production areas found that, compared with the literature, cultivation intensity, depth and number of operations were generally greater than necessary for seedbed preparation. Deep non-inversion and inversion techniques for primary cultivations were frequently succeeded by powered, high-intensity rotary equipment. Tubers accounted for only 2–7 % of the total soil volume in the ridge, yet the large cross-sectional area of the planted ridges was adequate for containing high tuber yields without causing greening. Yields reported by growers were generally not correlated with intensity or number of cultivation operations or the size of ridges produced. Additionally, none of the surveyed growers practiced minimum or reduced tillage. This suggests there are opportunities to reduce the number of cultivation operations in potato production, potentially minimising soil disturbance and providing benefits such as improved soil quality, reduced greenhouse gas emissions (both from fuel and gaseous losses from soils during cultivation), lower machinery wear and a smaller carbon footprint.

AB - Papers on potato cultivation experiments rarely provide detailed information about the type and number of cultivation operations used. There is a need to document best practice for cultivating soil for potato production. A global survey was conducted to document the types, frequency and depths of cultivation systems used for potato production in different regions, and to identify representative cultivation sequences used in current commercial practice. Analysis of 65 survey responses representing the major global production areas found that, compared with the literature, cultivation intensity, depth and number of operations were generally greater than necessary for seedbed preparation. Deep non-inversion and inversion techniques for primary cultivations were frequently succeeded by powered, high-intensity rotary equipment. Tubers accounted for only 2–7 % of the total soil volume in the ridge, yet the large cross-sectional area of the planted ridges was adequate for containing high tuber yields without causing greening. Yields reported by growers were generally not correlated with intensity or number of cultivation operations or the size of ridges produced. Additionally, none of the surveyed growers practiced minimum or reduced tillage. This suggests there are opportunities to reduce the number of cultivation operations in potato production, potentially minimising soil disturbance and providing benefits such as improved soil quality, reduced greenhouse gas emissions (both from fuel and gaseous losses from soils during cultivation), lower machinery wear and a smaller carbon footprint.

KW - Depth

KW - Number of cultivations

KW - Potato cultivation

KW - Reduced tillage

KW - Ridge volume

KW - Survey

KW - Type

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105030053657

U2 - 10.1016/j.still.2025.107052

DO - 10.1016/j.still.2025.107052

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:105030053657

SN - 0167-1987

VL - 259

JO - Soil and Tillage Research

JF - Soil and Tillage Research

M1 - 107052

ER -