[Characteristics of dry matter and potassium accumulation and distribution in potato plant in semi-arid rainfed areas].

In 2010, a field experiment with potato (Solanum tuberosum) cultivar 'Xindaping' was conducted at the Dingxi Extension Center of Gansu Province, Northwest China, aimed to understand the accumulation and distribution patterns of dry matter (DM) and potassium (K) in the organs of potato plant in semi-arid rainfed areas. During the whole growth period of the cultivar, the DM accumulation in root, stem, and leaf all showed a unimodal curve, with the DM accumulation rate being leaf > stem > root, whereas the DM accumulation in whole plant and tuber was an S-curve. The maximum DM accumulation rate of the whole plant was higher than that of the tuber, and appeared 17 days earlier. The distribution of DM in different organs showed two turning points, i.e., during the tuber formation (TF) period and the tuber growth (TG) period. During TF period, the DM accumulation was the greatest in leaf, followed by in tuber. The TF period was also the DM balance period, which occurred 90 days after emergence. Before the DM balance period, the DM accumulation in tuber was lesser than that in root, stem, and leaf, and there was a positive correlation between the DM accumulation in tuber and in root, stem, and leaf. However, after the DM balance period, the DM accumulation in tuber was greater than that in root, stem, and leaf, and the correlation was negative. At seedling stage and in TF period, TG period, starch accumulation period, and maturity period, the DM accumulation in whole plant was 5%, 30%, 60%, 4% , and 1%, while that in tuber was 0,18% , 62 , 18% , and 2%, respectively. In the whole growth period, more than 50% of the DM was formed in TG period. The K concentration was the highest in stem and the lowest in tuber, though the K was mostly concentrated in root before the DM balance period. The K accumulation before the DM balance period was mostly in root, stem, and leaf, with the sequence of stem > leaf > root, but after the DM balance period, the K was mainly allocated in tuber, with >60% of the K accumulated in tuber in maturity period.