Potato is a very important and traditional food crop in Tibet where people treat it as a kind of “vegetables”. For its good adaptability to poor soil conditions and harsh weather, this crop is scattered from mountains to river valleys on the plateau where it can get harvest. Though it has a long history of cultivation in Tibet, balanced fertilizer program for this crop has just initiated this year by the Institute of Agriculture under the sponsorship of IPNI. Under the new research program, the researchers have worked out the proper rates of NPK fertilizers for potato production in the Shannan region. The optimal treatment with 105-75-120 kg N-P₂O₅-K₂O/ha produced the highest potato yield of 64.25 t/ha, 8.65 t or 15.49% higher than the government’s fertilizer recommendations of 150-75-0 kg N-P₂O₅-K₂O/ha. This treatment reduced the N rate from 150 the government recommendation to 105 kg/ha with an addtion of 120 kg K₂O/ha. A harvest field day was conducted on September 5, 2007 and local leaders and farmers were very happy to see the results on site and said they will follow the new fertilizer recommendations in future. The following photos show the good growth of the potato and Tibetan farmers who attended the activity sat in the potato field.


Fig. 1 Potato received balanced fertilizers


Fig. 2 Tibetan farmers in Canpotex T-shirt got together in the potato field just after harvest