Open AccessArticle

Effects of Climatic Conditions and Agronomic Practices on Health, Tuber Yield, and Mineral Composition of Two Contrasting Potato Varieties Developed for High and Low Input Production Systems

Gultekin Hasanaliyeva

Ourania Giannakopoulou

¹,

Juan Wang

^1,2,

Marcin Barański

^2,3

Enas Khalid Sufar

Daryl Knutt

¹,

Jenny Gilroy

¹,

Peter Shotton

¹,

Halima Leifert

¹,

Dominika Średnicka-Tober

^1,4

Ismail Cakmak

⁵

Levent Ozturk

⁵,

Bingqiang Zhao

⁶,

Per Ole Iversen

^7,8

Nikolaos Volakakis

¹,

Paul Bilsborrow

⁹

Carlo Leifert

^7,10,*

and

Leonidas Rempelos

^1,11,*

Nafferton Ecological Farming Group, School of Agriculture, Food and Rural Development, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU, UK

Department of Clinical Nutrition, College of Health Science and Technology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200025, China

Laboratory of Neurobiology, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Pasteura 3, 02-093 Warsaw, Poland

⁴

Institute of Human Nutrition Sciences, Warsaw University of Life Sciences, Nowoursynowska 159c, 02-776 Warsaw, Poland

⁵

Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences, Sabanci University, 34956 Istanbul, Turkey

⁶

Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning (IARRP), Chinese Academy of Agricultural Science (CAAS), Beijing 100081, China

⁷

Department of Nutrition, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, University of Oslo, 0312 Oslo, Norway

⁸

Department of Haematology, Oslo University Hospital, 0424 Oslo, Norway

⁹

School of Natural and Environmental Sciences, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU, UK

¹⁰

SCU Plant Science, Southern Cross University, Military Rd., Lismore, NSW 2480, Australia

¹¹

Lincoln Institute for Agri-Food Technology, University of Lincoln, Riseholme Park, Lincoln LN2 2LG, UK

Show full affiliation list

Hide full affiliation list

Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Agronomy 2025, 15(1), 89; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy15010089

Submission received: 29 September 2024 / Revised: 18 December 2024 / Accepted: 20 December 2024 / Published: 31 December 2024

(This article belongs to the Section Agroecology Innovation: Achieving System Resilience)

Download

Browse Figures

Figure 1
Bi-plot resulting from the RDA showing the associations between climate and agronomic explanatory variables/drivers and potato health and tuber yield response variables for the varieties Santé and Sarpo mira. Data included were from three growing seasons/years (2010, 2011, 2012). For the variety Santé, the horizontal axis 1 explains 31.7% of the variation and the vertical axis 2 a further 10.2%. For the variety Sapro mira, the horizontal axis 1 explains 24.4% of the variation and the vertical axis 2 a further 12.9%. NC, not computed. Continuous explanatory variables (△): PRE, precipitation; RAD, radiation; TEMP, temperature. Fixed explanatory variables (▲): CP, conventional crop protection; OP, organic crop protection; CF, conventional fertilization (mineral NPK); OF, organic fertilization (farmyard manure). Response variables (▲): fwy, fresh weight yield, dwy, dry weight yield; my+ST, marketable fresh weight yield including tubers with scab; my-ST, marketable fresh weight yield excluding tubers with scab; fb, foliar blight (AUDPC); tb, % of tubers with tuber blight; sc, % of tubers with scab; sl, % of tubers with slug damage; gt, % of green tubers; ct, % cracked tubers. "> Figure 2
Bi-plot resulting from the RDA showing the associations between climate and agronomic explanatory variables/drivers and potato health and tuber yield response variables for the varieties Santé and Sarpo mira. Data included were from three growing seasons/years (2010, 2011, 2012). For the variety Santé, the horizontal axis 1 explains 34.7% of the variation and vertical axis 2 a further 10.0%. For the variety Sapro mira, horizontal axis 1 explains 25.6% of the variation and vertical axis 2 a further 8.0%. NC, not computed. Continuous explanatory variables (△): PRE, precipitation; RAD, radiation; TEMP, temperature. Fixed explanatory variables (▲): CP, conventional crop protection; OP, organic crop protection; CF, conventional fertilization (mineral NPK); OF, organic fertilization (farmyard manure). Response variables (▲): Macronutrients: N, nitrogen; P, phosphorus; K, potassium; S, sulfur; Ca, calcium; Mg, magnesium. Micronutrients: B, boron; Cu, copper; Fe, iron; Zn, zinc; Toxic metals: Al, aluminum; Cd, cadmium; Ni, nickel; Pb, lead. ">

Versions Notes

Abstract

Modern potato varieties from high-input, conventional farming-focused breeding programs produce substantially (up to 45%) lower yields when grown in organic production systems, and this was shown to be primarily due to less efficient fertilization and late blight (Phytophthora infestans) control methods being used in organic farming. It has been hypothesized that the breeding of potato varieties suitable for the organic/low-input sector should (i) focus on increasing nutrient (especially N) use efficiency, (ii) introduce durable late blight resistance, and (iii) be based on selection under low-input conditions. To test this hypothesis, we used an existing long-term factorial field experiment (the NEFG trials) to assess the effect of crop management practices (rotation design, fertilization regime, and crop protection methods) used in conventional and organic farming systems on crop health, tuber yield, and mineral composition parameters in two potato varieties, Santé and Sarpo mira, that were developed in breeding programs for high and low-input farming systems, respectively. Results showed that, compared to Santé, the variety Sarpo mira was more resistant to foliar and tuber blight but more susceptible to potato scab (Streptomyces scabies) and produced higher yields and tubers with higher concentrations of nutritionally desirable mineral nutrients but lower concentrations of Cd. The study also found that, compared to the Cu-fungicides permitted for late blight control in organic production, application of synthetic chemical fungicides permitted and widely used in conventional production resulted in significantly lower late blight severity in Sante but not in Sarpo mira. Results from both ANOVA and redundancy analysis (RDA) indicate that the effects of climatic (precipitation, radiation, and temperature) and agronomic (fertilization and crop protection) explanatory variables on crop health and yield differed considerably between the two varieties. Specifically, the RDA identified crop protection as a significant driver for Santé but not Sarpo mira, while precipitation was the strongest driver for crop health and yield for Sarpo mira but not Santé. In contrast, the effect of climatic and agronomic drivers on tuber mineral and toxic metal concentrations in the two varieties was found to be similar. Our results support the hypothesis that selection of potato varieties under low agrochemical input conditions can deliver varieties that combine (i) late blight resistance/tolerance, (ii) nutrient use efficiency, and (iii) yield potential in organic farming systems.

Keywords:

potato; late blight; tuber yield; tuber mineral content; Cd; fertilization; crop protection; low-input; conventional; organic

1. Introduction

Potato crops are important for human nutrition and future food security [1]. In addition to being an important source of carbohydrates/energy, potatoes also contribute to the dietary intake of fiber, vitamins, and minerals [2].

The nutrient uptake and use efficiency of potato crops is low, and modern potato varieties require high inputs of mineral NPK fertilizer and, in many regions, also supplementary irrigation to achieve their yield potential [3,4,5]. Potato yields may be substantially reduced by a range of diseases (especially late blight caused by Phytophtora infestans), pests (e.g., nematodes, slugs, Colorado potato beetles), and competition from weeds, and in conventional potato production pesticides, fungicides, and herbicides are used for crop protection [4,5].

The production of organic potato crops is therefore a considerable challenge, and the yield gap between conventional and organic production is larger (~40%) for potatoes compared with other food crops, including wheat and grain legumes [3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11]. Factorial field experiments with the variety Santé (which was developed for intensive conventional production systems) showed that the lower yields in organic production are due to both (i) less efficient fertilization regimes and (ii) crop protection protocols being used in the organic sector [4,5,6]. However, these trials also demonstrated that compared to conventional production, organic potato production results in higher concentrations of nutritionally desirable phenolics and certain vitamins and lower concentrations of the toxic glycoalkaloids and heavy metals Cd and Ni, and that this was primarily due to differences in fertilization regimes between organic and conventional production [5,6]. However, there is virtually no information on the effects of organic versus conventional production methods on mineral macro- and micronutrient concentrations in potato tubers, except for Cu concentrations, which were reported to be higher in organic potato tubers due to the use of Cu-fungicides, which is permitted under derogation, in organic farming in some countries [6].

Consumer studies, carried out as part of the EU-QualityLowInputFood (QLIF) project, identified consumer perceptions that organic production methods increase food quality and reduce the negative environmental impacts of agriculture as the main driver for the increasing demand for organic food [12,13]. In contrast, the significantly higher prices of organic products were identified as the main barrier for a further expansion of demand [12,13,14,15,16].

In Europe, research effort focused on improving organic potato production systems has therefore primarily focused on addressing the yield gap between organic and conventional production by improving the management of late blight and investigating the potential for selecting potato varieties with improved nutrient uptake and use efficiency and nutritional quality [17,18,19,20,21,22,23,24].

Specifically, the EU Blight-MOP project [17] demonstrated the potential to reduce late blight severity and associated yield losses via optimization of agronomic protocols (e.g., the use of pre-sprouted seed potatoes and optimization of planting dates and spacing) [19] and selection of more blight-resistant varieties suitable for local production and market conditions [20]. In the UK, several varieties from breeding programs focused on the introgression of blight-resistance genes from wild Solanum spp. (e.g., Lady Balfour and Eve Balfour developed for organic farming systems, and Sharpo axona, Sharpo tominia, and Sharpo miro developed for ‘low-input’ systems in Eastern Europe) were found to have higher levels of foliar and tuber blight resistance and/or tuber yields in organic farming systems compared with varieties (e.g., Santé and Cara) that were developed for the conventional farming sector and widely used by UK organic farmers in the early 2000s [20].

The EU NUE-crops project and a range of other studies identified significant variations for P and N use efficiency among potato cultivars and potential QTLs for nutrient use efficiency (NUE) [3,21,22,25,26,27,28,29,30,31,32,33]. For example, the cultivar Sharpo mira (which was developed in an Eastern European breeding program that involved selection under low agrochemical input conditions) was reported to have a higher N-use efficiency in both organic and conventional farming backgrounds when compared with the modern Dutch cultivar Santé (which was developed for the high-input conventional farming sector). However, it remained unclear (i) to what extent the higher N-use efficiency in Sarpo mira was due to higher late blight resistance or other physiological/morphological traits and (ii) whether and to what extent the use of more blight-resistant varieties affects mineral macro- and micronutrient and toxic metal concentrations in potato tubers produced in organic and conventional production backgrounds [33,34,35,36,37,38].

To address these knowledge gaps, the objectives of this factorial field experiment-based study reported here were therefore to:

compare crop health, tuber yield, mineral nutrient, and toxic metal concentrations in two varieties (Santé and Sarpo mira) that were developed for high- and low-input production systems in contrasting agronomic background conditions (rotation design, fertilization regime, and crop protection methods) used in organic and conventional farming systems;
investigate the potential to reduce the yield gap between organic and conventional production by using a variety (Sarpo mira) developed for low-input production systems;
identify associations between climatic and agronomic explanatory variables/drivers and selected potato health (foliar and tuber blight, scab and slug damage), yield, and nutritional quality parameters in the two varieties.

2. Materials and Methods

2.1. Experimental Site and Trial Design

The NFSC trials were established in a 6 ha field at Newcastle University’s Nafferton Experimental Farm, Northumberland, UK (54°59′09″ N; 1°43′56″ W) with a uniform sandy clay loam soil formed in slowly permeable glacial till deposits, which is classified as a Cambic Stagnogley [39] in the UK and a Stagnic Cambisol [40] in the FAO soil classification system (see Supplementary Table S1 for the soil physical characteristics in the field used for the experiments).

The climatic conditions in the three growing seasons in which the performance of the two potato varieties (Santé and Sarpo mira) was compared (2010, 2011, and 2012), and that was used for redundancy analyses (RDA) are shown in Supplementary Table S2.

Detailed descriptions of the experimental design were published previously [4,5]. Briefly, in the NFSC trials, the effects of (i) crop rotation, (ii) crop protection protocols, and (iii) fertilization regimes prescribed for organic and conventional production systems were studied using a split-split plot design with four replicate blocks and four replicate experiments. Supplementary Figure S1 shows the dimensions and principal arrangement of crop rotation main plots, crop protection sub-plots, and fertilization sub-sub-plots. The four replicate experiments each started at a different stage of the 8-year rotation to allow each crop in the two rotations to be grown in two growing seasons within a four-year period. Supplementary Table S3 provides detailed information on the crop rotation used in each replicate experiment in the 16-year period of the experiment (2001 to 2017).

Each rotation main-plot was divided into two crop protection sub-plots (12 × 24 m) in which crop protection was carried out according to either (i) British Farm Assured conventional crop protection (CP) recommendations or (ii) Soil Association (www.soilassociation.org (accessed 29 December 2024)) organic crop protection (OP) standards [4,5]. Each of these subplots was divided into two fertility management sub-sub-plots (12 × 12 m) in which fertilization was carried out either according to conventional farming practice (mineral NPK fertilizer inputs; CF) or organic farming standards (cattle manure fertilizer inputs; OF) (see Supplementary Table S4 for the composition of the manure used). The arrangement of crop protection sub-plots and fertilization sub-sub-plots was randomized in each of the four replicate experiments. Ten-meter unplanted separation strips were established between crop protection sub-plots and 5 m unplanted separation strips between fertilization sub-sub-plots (Supplementary Figure S1).

The fertilization sub-sub-plots were further divided into years when potatoes and vegetables were grown as part of the crop rotation, with a 6 × 24 m sub-sub-sub-plot being used for potatoes and four 6 × 6 m sub-sub-sub-plots for carrots, onion, cabbage, and lettuce crops. In 2010, 2011, and 2012, the potato sub-sub-sub-plots were divided into two variety sub-sub-sub-sub-plots (6 × 12 m) to compare the performance of the varieties Santé and Sharpo mira.

2.2. Soil Analyses

Soil chemical analyses were carried out after crop harvest in 2009 prior to the start of the experiment reported here (see Supplementary Tables S5–S7 for concentrations of macronutrient, micronutrient, and toxic metal concentrations in the top-soil (0–30 cm) of experimental plots, respectively). Representative soil samples from all plots in the NFSC trial were collected after the 2009 crop harvest and then dried and sieved (2 mm) prior to analysis. Concentrations of toxic metals and mineral nutrients (excluding C and N) were analyzed using Mehlich III extracts [41] with an inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometer equipped with a CCD detector (Vista-Pro Axial; Varian Pty Ltd., Mulgrave, Australia). Total C and N in the soil samples were measured using a LECO Tru-Spec C/N Analyzer (Leco Corp., St. Joseph, MI, USA), following the manufacturer’s guidelines.

Soil physical characteristics (see Supplementary Table S1) were assessed at three soil depths (0–30 cm, 30–60 cm, and 60–90 cm) in soil collected from three soil pits established in the grass margin surrounding the experimental plots using standard protocols; for detailed descriptions of the methods used, see Almadi 2014 [42].

2.3. Crop Management and Yield Assessments

Potato seed tubers of the varieties Santé and Sarpo mira were planted in ridges (distance between rows: 90 cm, distance between tubers within the row: 35 cm) using a semi-automatic two-row potato planter (Reekie, Forfar, Scotland, UK). Potato seed tubers planted in conventional crop protection sub-plots (CON CP) were produced under conventional potato seed tuber production conditions, while seed tubers used in organic crop protection sub-plots (ORG CP) were produced to Soil Association organic seed tuber production standards. Both organic and conventional potato seed tubers were supplied by Greenvale AP (Duns, UK). Conventional and organic crop protection and defoliation treatments are described in Supplementary Table S3. After defoliation, tubers were left in the ground to allow skin maturation and then harvested using a single-row potato harvester (Ransomes, Ipswich, UK). Organic and conventional fertilization regimes are described in Supplementary Table S3. All fertilizers were applied four weeks prior to planting of tubers. No irrigation was used. Potato crops were planted on the 29th of April, 6th of May, and 22nd of May, and harvested on the 29th of September, 20th of September, and 9th of October in the 2010, 2011, and 2012 growing seasons, respectively.

Total tuber fresh weight yield was determined by lifting a 10 m length of one of the two central rows in each plot (there were six rows per plot) using a single-row potato harvester (Grimme UK Ltd., Boston, UK). Total fresh weight yields were determined by weighing tubers harvested in each plot immediately after lifting. Marketable yields were determined by removing all tubers with diameters <45 mm, cracks, mechanical or slug damage, or showing symptoms of common scab or tuber blight or were green. To determine the dry matter content, a sub-sample (approximately 400 g) of tubers was chipped and then dried, and weights were recorded before and after weighing.

2.4. Pest and Disease Assessments

Plots were examined weekly after plant emergence for symptoms of foliar diseases until the first symptoms of late blight (Phytophthora infestans) were detected on potato leaves and twice a week thereafter. Significant foliar disease symptoms were only detected for late blight. Late blight severity was assessed by visually assessing and scoring the percentage of leaf area showing late blight symptoms (chlorotic and/or necrotic lesions on leaves and whitish gray spore-bearing mycelium developing around the lesions under moist conditions, especially on the underside of leaves), and the accumulated disease severity was then calculated as the area under the disease progress curve (AUDPC) using a previously described protocol [4,5].

2.5. Nutritional Analyses

Samples of harvested potato tubers were freeze-dried immediately after harvest and then shipped to specialist laboratories for mineral nutrient and toxic metal analyses. Nitrogen concentrations in harvested products were determined at Newcastle University using a LECO C&N analyzer (LECO corporation, St. Joseph, MI, USA). Analyses of toxic metal and mineral nutrient concentrations other than N were carried out at Sabanci University (Istanbul, Turkiye) as previously described [4]. In brief, a 200 mg subsample of undamaged tubers was freeze-dried, ground, and subjected to acid digestion using a closed-vessel microwave system (MarsExpress; CEM Corp., Matthews, NC, USA) with 1 mL of 30% H₂O₂ and 5 mL of 65% HNO₃. The digestion program included four steps over 1 h: Step 1—ramp to 180 °C in 15 min; Step 2—hold at 180 °C for 10 min; Step 3—ramp to 205 °C in 15 min; Step 4—hold at 205 °C for 20 min. Following digestion, samples were cooled to room temperature and filtered using Whatman 589/3 Blue Ribbon quantitative filter papers. Toxic metals and mineral nutrients in the digestate were analyzed using an inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometer (Vista-Pro Axial; Varian Pty Ltd., Mulgrave, Australia).

In addition to mineral macro- and micronutrient concentrations, concentrations of the toxic metals (Al, Cd, Ni, and Pb) were determined to investigate whether the contrasting production protocols have potential impacts on food safety.

2.6. Statistical Analyses

The effects of year, crop protection, fertility management, and variety on measured parameters were assessed using ANOVA derived from a linear mixed-effects model using the ‘nlme’ package [43] in R [44]. The hierarchical nature of the split-split-split-plot design was reflected in the random error structures that were specified as block/year/crop protection/fertilization. Where analysis at a given level of a factor was carried out, that factor was removed from the random error term [43,44]. Another model with pre-crop, crop protection, fertility management, and variety as fixed effects was used for data analysis from years in which crops were grown following more than one species of pre-crop. The hierarchical nature of the split−split-plot design was reflected in the random error structures that were specified as block/pre-crop/crop protection/fertilization. The normality of the residuals of all models was tested using QQ-plots. Interactions between variety and the two agronomic factors (fertilization and crop protection) were tested using Tukey contrasts of the general linear hypothesis testing (glht) function of the ‘multcomp’ package in R [44]. A linear mixed effects model was used, containing a treatment main effect with four levels, with the random error term specified as described above. The standard error (SE) of the mean was used in order to describe how precise the sample’s mean is compared with the true mean of the population. Both means and SE were generated using the ‘t apply’ function in R.

The relationships between concentrations of biochemical compounds, macro/micro-nutrients, heavy metals, and environmental agronomic factors were investigated using partial redundancy analysis (pRDA). In all cases, the pRDAs were carried out using CANOCO 5 [45]. Automatic forward selection of the environmental, agronomic, and phenolic factors within the RDAs was used, and their significance in explaining additional variance was calculated using Monte Carlo permutation tests.

3. Results

3.1. Effects of Year/Growing Season (and Associated Climatic Conditions) on Crop Performance

Four-factor ANOVA (with year/growing season, crop protection, fertilization, and variety as factors) identified significant main effects of year/growing season for all crop health, yield, and mineral composition parameters assessed, except for tuber Cd concentrations (Supplementary Tables S9 and S10). Specifically, foliar and tuber blight severity, slug damage, and the proportion of green, mechanically damaged, and cracked tubers were significantly higher, and tuber yields were lower in 2012 (the season with the highest rainfall and relative humidity in August/September) compared with 2010 and 2011 (Supplementary Table S9). In contrast, scab severity was significantly higher in 2010 compared with 2011 and 2012 (Supplementary Table S9). When the tuber composition was compared, concentrations of all mineral macro- and micro-nutrients and toxic metals except N, Cd, and Ni were found to be significantly higher in 2012 (the season with the highest rainfall and relative humidity in August/September and lowest tuber yields) compared with 2010 and 2011 (Supplementary Table S10). In contrast, significantly higher N, Cd, and Ni concentrations were recorded in 2010 compared with 2011 and 2012 (Supplementary Table S10).

Four-factor ANOVA also detected a range of significant 2-way and 3-way interactions between year/growing season and (i) crop protection, (ii) fertilization, and/or (ii) variety for some crop performance and tuber composition parameters (Supplementary Tables S9 and S10). These interactions were not further investigated, and instead redundancy analyses (RDA) were used to estimate the relative impact of (i) climate (irradiation, precipitation, temperature) and (ii) agronomic drivers (crop protection and fertilization) on the performance of the two contrasting potato varieties (see Section 3.4 below).

In this study, mineral composition data calculated on a fresh weight basis were compared, since this is thought to reflect dietary intakes more accurately. However, it should be noted that ANOVA identified very similar trends for (i) main effects of year and (ii) interactions between year and other factors when mineral composition data calculated on a dry weight basis were used, although some small differences were found for the significance levels of some 2-way and 3-way interactions (Table S11).

3.2. Effects of Crop Protection, Fertilization, and Variety on Crop Health and Tuber Yield

Four-factor ANOVA (with year/growing season, crop protection, fertilization, and variety as factors) detected significant main effects of variety for all four crop health parameters assessed, with foliar and tuber blight severity found to be higher in the variety Santé and scab severity and slug damage slightly higher in Sharpo mira (Table 1).

In contrast, significant main effects of crop protection and fertilizer type were only detected for foliar blight and slug damage, respectively, with foliar blight found to be substantially higher with organic crop protection and slug damage higher when manure was used as fertilizer (Table 1).

Four-factor ANOVA also detected significant interactions between crop protection and variety for foliar blight and the proportion of green and cracked tubers that had to be discarded after harvest (Table 1).

When these interactions were further investigated, similar trends were found for all three parameters. Foliar blight and the proportions of cracked and green tubers were (i) significantly higher with conventional compared to organic crop protection in the variety Santé, but not in Sharpo mira, and (ii) not significantly different in Santé grown with conventional crop protection and Sharpo mira grown with conventional and organic crop protection (Table 2).

In addition to total tuber fresh and dry weight, we also assessed the marketable yield with and without including tubers with scab. Although they are perfectly safe to eat, tubers with scab have a lower shelf-life and are usually rejected by wholesalers and supermarket buyers, but can be marketed directly by farmers to consumers (e.g., via box schemes, farm shops, or farmers markets).

Significant main effects of crop protection and fertilizer type were detected for all three yield parameters, and tuber yields were significantly higher when conventional crop protection and fertilization regimes were used (Table 1). For marketable yields, which included scabbed potato and the total tuber dry matter yield, a significant main effect of variety was also detected, with Sharpo mira producing significantly higher marketable and dry matter yields (Table 1).

No significant interactions between crop protection, fertilization, and/or variety were detected for any of the crop performance parameters assessed (Table 1).

3.3. Effects of Crop Protection, Fertilization, and Variety on Tuber Macronutrient Concentrations

Significant main effects of variety were detected for all mineral macronutrients except N, and tuber concentrations of P, K, S, Ca, and Mg were all higher in Sarpo mira (Table 3).

Significant main effects of fertilization were detected for all mineral macronutrients except Ca, and tuber concentrations of N were higher in NPK fertilized crops, while P, K, S, and Mg concentrations were higher in manure fertilized crops (Table 3).

A significant main effect of crop protection was only detected for P, and tuber concentrations were higher in crops grown with organic crop protection regimes (Table 3).

No significant interactions between crop protection, fertilization, and/or variety were detected for any of the macronutrients (Table 3).

In this study, mineral macronutrient composition data calculated on a fresh weight basis were compared (Table 3), since this is thought to reflect dietary intakes more accurately. However, it should be noted that for most macronutrients, ANOVA identified very similar trends for (i) the main effects of and (ii) interactions between the three agronomic factors (Supplementary Table S12). Notable exceptions were the findings of significant main effects of (i) crop protection on tuber S, (ii) fertilization on tuber Ca, and (iii) variety on tuber N concentrations when data calculated on a dry weight basis were used (Supplementary Table S12).

3.4. Effects of Crop Protection, Fertilization, and Variety on Tuber Micronutrient Concentrations

Significant main effects of variety were detected for all four mineral micronutrients assessed, and tuber concentrations of B, Cu, Fe, and Zn were all higher in Sarpo mira (Table 4).

A significant main effect of fertilization was only detected for B, and tuber concentrations were found to be higher in FYM-fertilized crops (Table 4).

A significant main effect of crop protection was only detected for Cu, and tuber concentrations were higher in crops grown with organic crop protection regimes (Table 4).

For tuber Fe concentrations, ANOVA also detected significant interactions between (i) variety and crop protection (Table 2) and (ii) variety and fertilization (Table 5). When these interactions were further investigated, Sarpo mira had higher tuber Fe concentrations than Santé when crops were grown with conventional crop protection and mineral NPK fertilizer, while there was no significant difference in tuber Fe concentrations between varieties when crops were grown with organic crop protection (Table 2) and manure as fertilizer (Table 5).

No other significant interactions between crop protection, fertilization, and/or variety were detected for any of the micronutrients (Table 4).

In this study, mineral micronutrient composition data calculated on a fresh weight basis were compared (Table 4), since this is thought to reflect dietary intakes more accurately. However, it should be noted that for most micronutrients, ANOVA identified very similar trends for (i) the main effects of and (ii) interactions between the three agronomic factors (Supplementary Table S13). The only notable exception was the finding that fertilization had no significant main effect on tuber B concentrations when data calculated on a dry weight basis were used (Supplementary Table S13).

3.5. Effects of Crop Protection, Fertilization, and Variety on Tuber Toxic Metal Concentrations

A significant main effect of variety was only detected for tuber Cd, and concentrations were higher in Santé (Table 4). A significant main effect of fertilization was only detected for Cd, with tuber concentrations found to be higher in NPK fertilized crops (Table 4). For tuber Al and Cd, concentrations ANOVA also detected significant 2-way interactions and a trend (0.1 > p > 0.05) towards a significant relationship between variety and fertilization, respectively (Table 5). When these interactions were further investigated, significant differences in tuber Al and Cd concentrations between varieties were only detected when mineral NPK was used as fertilizer. In mineral NPK fertilized crops, tuber Al concentrations were significantly higher in Sarpo mira, while tuber Cd concentrations were higher in Santé (Table 5).

It should be noted that, although there was no significant difference in tuber Al and Cd between varieties when FYM was used as fertilizer, both tuber Al and Cd concentrations were numerically slightly lower in Sarpo mira (Table 5).

In this study, toxic metal composition data calculated on a fresh weight basis were compared (Table 4), since this is thought to reflect dietary intakes more accurately. However, it should be noted that for most micronutrients, ANOVA identified very similar trends for (i) main effects of and (ii) interactions between the three agronomic factors (Supplementary Table S13). The only notable exception was the finding of a significant main effect of variety on tuber Ni concentrations when data calculated on a dry weight basis were used (Supplementary Table S13).

3.6. Effects of Preceding Crop, Crop Protection, Fertilization, and Variety on Tuber Toxic Metal Concentrations

In 2010 and 2011, potatoes were grown after two different preceding crops (spring beans and winter barley in the organic and conventional rotation main plots, respectively). When data for crops grown after spring beans and winter barley were compared by including preceding crop as an additional factor in a 5-factor ANOVA, no significant main effects of or interactions between preceding crop and other factors were detected for any of the crop performance and tuber composition parameters assessed, except for a significant main effect of preceding crop (p = 0.006) on the N-concentration in tubers, which was higher in potato grown after spring beans compared with winter barley.

3.7. Associations Between Climate, Agronomic and Variety Drivers, and Crop Performance

Partial redundancy analyses (RDA) were carried out to study associations between contrasting (i) climate (temperature, precipitation, and irradiation in the three growing seasons), (ii) crop protection (organic vs. conventional), (iii) fertilization (mineral NPK vs. FYM), and (iv) variety (Santé vs. Sarpo mira) as explanatory variables together with crop health, tuber yield, and composition parameters as response variables.

Separate RDAs were carried out for (i) crop health and tuber yield and (ii) tuber macro- and micro-nutrient and toxic metal response variables. When interpreting the RDA results for the 3 climatic drivers, it is important to consider that only data from three growing seasons/years (2010, 2011, and 2012) were available and that radiation was closely correlated with temperature in the three seasons.

3.7.1. Associations with Crop Health and Performance Parameters

We initially carried out exploratory RDAs with climatic conditions (precipidation, temperature, irradiation) during the growing season and all three experimental factors (crop protection, fertilization, variety) as explanatory variables/drivers and potato health and performance/yield parameters (Supplementary Figure S2). This demonstrated that variety is a highly significant (F = 9.0; p = 0.002) explanatory variable/driver for crop health and performance (Supplementary Figure S2). We therefore carried out separate RDAs for the two varieties using the same (i) climatic and agronomic (crop protection, fertilization) explanatory variables/drivers and (ii) crop health and performance response variables (Figure 1).

For the variety Santé, crop protection and precipitation were identified as the strongest explanatory variables/driver and explained 18.5 and 17.1% of the variation (Figure 1). Conventional fertilization was also identified as a significant (p = 0.002) driver but only explained 2.1% of the variation (Figure 1). For Santé, the bi-plot resulting from the RDA identified positive associations between tuber yield and (i) temperature and conventional fertilization (along the negative axes 1 and 2) and (ii) conventional crop protection (along the negative axis 1) (Figure 1). However, tuber yield was negatively associated with (i) precipitation and organic fertilization (along the positive axes 1 and 2) and (ii) organic crop protection (along the positive axis 1) (Figure 1). The severity of foliar blight, the proportions of green and cracked tubers, and tubers with tuber blight or slug damage were also positively associated with precipitation and both organic crop protection and fertilization (Figure 1).

In contrast, for the variety Sarpo mira, precipitation and radiation (which was positively correlated with temperature) were identified as the strongest explanatory variables/driver and explained 31.6 and 8.4% of the variation (Figure 1). Conventional crop protection and fertilization were also identified as significant drivers but only explained 2.7% and 2.1% of the variation (Figure 1). For Sarpo mira, the bi-plot resulting from the RDA identified positive associations between tuber yield and (i) radiation (along the negative axis 1), (ii) conventional crop protection (along the positive axis 2), and (iii) conventional crop protection (along the negative axis 1 and positive axis 2) (Figure 1). Foliar blight severity and the proportion of tubers with scab symptoms were positively associated with radiation but negatively associated with precipitation, while the proportion of green tubers was positively associated with precipitation (along axis 1) in Sarpo mira (Figure 1).

3.7.2. Associations with Tuber Macro- and Micronutrient and Toxic Metal Concentrations

We initially carried out exploratory RDAs with climatic conditions (precipitation, temperature, irradiation) during the growing season and all three experimental factors (crop protection, fertilization, variety) as explanatory variables/drivers for tuber composition (Supplementary Figure S3). This demonstrated that variety is a highly significant (F = 11.6; p = 0.002) explanatory variable/driver for crop health and performance (Supplementary Figure S3). We therefore carried out separate RDAs for the two varieties (Figure 2) using the same (i) climatic and agronomic (crop protection, fertilization) explanatory variables/drivers and (ii) tuber mineral nutrients and toxic metals as response variables (Figure 2).

In the bi-plot resulting from the RDA with tuber concentrations of macro- and micronutrients and toxic metals as response variables/drivers, precipitation and temperature were identified as the strongest drivers explaining 24.8 and 10.4% of the variation, respectively (Figure 2). Variety and fertilization were also identified as significant drivers but only explained a smaller proportion of the variation (<5.0%) (Figure 2).

Tuber N and Zn concentrations were positively associated with temperature and to a lesser extent organic fertilization and crop protection (along the negative axes 1 and 2), the variety Santé (along the negative axis 1), while tuber Mg and Cd concentrations were positively associated with the variety Santé (along the negative axis 1 and positive axis 2) and conventional crop protection and fertilization (along the positive axis 2 (Figure 2)).

Tuber N and Zn concentrations were positively associated with temperature and, to a lesser extent, organic fertilization and crop protection (along the negative axes 1 and 2) and the variety Santé (along the negative axis 1), while tuber Cd and Mg concentrations were positively associated with the variety Santé (along the negative axis 1 and positive axis 2) (Figure 2).

In contrast, tuber B, Ca, Cu, Mg, K, P, and Pb concentrations were positively associated with precipitation and the variety Sharpo mira (along the positive axis 1 and negative axis 1), while tuber Al and Ni concentrations were positively associated with conventional crop protection and fertilization (along the positive axes 1 and 2) (Figure 2).

Tuber Cu and K concentrations were also positively associated with temperature and organic crop protection and fertilization along the negative axis 2 (Figure 2).

4. Discussion

This study, uniquely, allowed comparisons of (i) the performance of two varieties developed for high and low-input production systems, respectively, in soils that had been managed with conventional versus organic production protocols for ≥9 years and (ii) associations between both climatic and agronomic drivers on potato health, yield, and nutritional quality parameters in varieties from high and low input farming-focused breeding programs.

4.1. Effects of Agronomic Factors

The results of the study reported here were based on data from the NFSC trials collected in the 2010, 2011, and 2012 growing seasons. In 2010, 2011 and 2012 treatment plots had been managed for 9, 10, and 11 years, respectively, with the contrasting fertilization regimes and crop protection protocols that were compared in the NFSC trials.

4.1.1. Crop Health and Performance

For many performance parameters, the main effects of fertilization and crop protection identified in this study for the varieties Santé and Sarpo mira were similar to those reported previously by Palmer et al. [4], who analyzed data obtained when only the variety Santé was grown in the NEFG trials between 2004 and 2009 [4]. Specifically, both studies found (i) significantly higher tuber yields with conventional crop protection and fertilization, (ii) significantly higher foliar blight when organic crop protection regimes were used, and (iii) significantly higher tuber N/crude protein concentrations when conventional fertilization regimes were used [4].

However, the redundancy analysis carried out in this study on data from 2010, 2011 to 2012 seasons showed that contrasting crop protection methods explain a larger proportion of the variation in crop health and tuber yield parameters in the more late blight susceptible variety Santé compared with the late blight resistant variety Sharpo mira (see also Section 4.3 below). These results are consistent with findings of previous studies that reported that late blight is a more important yield-limiting factor in organic than conventional production and that the use of blight-resistant varieties is the most promising strategy to improve potato yields and yield stability [4,6,12,20].

4.1.2. Mineral Macronutrient Concentrations in Tubers

For some mineral macronutrients, the study by Palmer et al. [4] and the study reported here found contrasting trends for the main effects of fertilization. Specifically, Palmer et al. [4] reported that the use of FYM resulted in significantly lower tuber S, Ca, and Mg and similar tuber K concentrations, while this study found higher tuber P, K, S, and Mg concentrations in FYM compared with mineral NPK-fertilized crops. This may have been due to an increase in available soil P, K, S, Ca, and/or Mg concentrations over time caused by the longer period of regular FYM inputs in this study. This view is supported by previous studies that showed that regular FYM-inputs could result in an accumulation of P and other minerals over time (and also an imbalanced N:P:K supply to crops) unless additional N-inputs into soils are made (e.g., via legume break crops or mineral N-fertilizers) [6].

The finding in this study that Sarpo mira had (i) higher tuber yields and (ii) higher N, P, and K concentrations (when tuber composition was compared on a dry weight basis) compared with Santé suggests that Sharpo mire has a higher NPK uptake efficiency. The (i) higher nutrient uptake efficiency by the variety Sharpo mira, which was included in this but not the study by Palmer et al. [4], and/or (ii) contrasting climatic conditions in 2004 to 2009 growing seasons (monitored by Palmer et al. [4]) compared with 2010 to 2012 growing seasons (monitored in the current study) may also, at least partially, explain the contrasting results obtained for tuber P, K, S, and Ca concentrations in the two studies (see also Section 4.3 below for confounding effects of climatic conditions).

4.1.3. Mineral Micronutrient and Toxic Metal Concentrations

This is, to our knowledge, the first study that assessed the effect of fertilization and crop protection regimes used in organic and conventional potato production on concentrations of both the mineral micro-nutrients B, Fe, Cu, and Zn and the toxic metals Al, Cd, and Pb in potato tubers.

The finding of higher Cu concentrations in crops under organic crop protection was expected and most likely due to the use of Cu-fungicide sprays for late blight control in the organic, but not the conventional crop protection protocol, which used synthetic chemical fungicides for late blight control. This is consistent with the results of previous studies, which reported higher Cu concentrations in (i) organic compared with conventional potato tubers [46,47] and (ii) organic than conventional winter wheat grain produced in arable rotations that also included potato crops [48] and concluded that the significantly higher concentrations of Cu in potato and wheat grain were due to the use of Cu-fungicides in potato crops.

There is concern about the negative environmental impacts of the use of Cu-fungicides in agriculture, especially in perennial crop production (e.g., grapes, apples), where Cu-fungicides are applied every year [49]. However, it is important to consider that, in arable crop rotations in the UK, it is recommended that (i) potatoes are kept at least 6 years apart in the rotation to minimize potato cyst nematode and powdery scab problems, (ii) Cu-fungicides are only used in potato crops, and (iii) organic farming regulations restrict the amount of Cu fungicides that can be applied to potato crops to 6 kg Cu/ha per year [48].

It is also important to note that many soils in the UK have a low Cu-content, which (i) can affect the yield of cereal crops and (ii) lead to Cu-deficiency in livestock and the need to use Cu-supplements [49,50,51]. Addressing Cu-deficiency with Cu supplements may also lead to excessive Cu-intakes and toxicity in livestock, and an increase in Cu-concentrations in arable crops used as feed (resulting from Cu-fungicide use in potato crops) may therefore be beneficial by allowing Cu-deficiency in livestock to be addressed without the risk of excessive Cu intakes and associated negative health impacts [48,49,50,51]. Since there is increasing evidence that agricultural intensification over the last 40 years has resulted in a reduction in mineral micronutrient concentrations (including Cu) in food crops, the slightly higher Cu-concentrations in cereals and potatoes resulting from the use of Cu-fungicides may also be beneficial with respect to human nutrition [52].

The finding of high Cd concentrations in mineral NPK fertilized crops is consistent with results from previous studies on wheat, potato, cabbage, lettuce, and onion crops grown in the NEFG trials, which all concluded that the higher Cd concentrations in NPK fertilized crops were most likely due to Cd-inputs into soils with mineral P fertilizers used as part of the conventional fertilization regime since mineral P (but not N and K) fertilizers are known to contain Cd residues [5,6,48,52,53]. There is also increasing evidence that (i) arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi play a critical role in preventing Cd accumulation in plants and (ii) the use of high mineral N and P fertilizer application substantially reduces arbuscular mycorrhizal colonization of plant roots [54,55,56], and this may also have at least partially explained the higher Cd concentrations in NPK fertilized crops. It should be noted that the use of chicken manure pellets and green waste compost as fertilizer was also reported to significantly increase Cd concentrations in wheat grain compared with FYM applied at the same total N-input level [52].

The slightly, but significantly, higher B-concentrations in FYM-fertilized tubers may have been due to higher B inputs with FYM compared with mineral NPK fertilizer. However, concentrations of other mineral micro-nutrients (e.g., Fe, Zn) were not affected by fertilizer type, although they are also known to be present in higher concentrations in FYM compared with mineral NPK fertilizer inputs [6,52].

The relative effects of agronomic factors (fertilization, crop protection), variety, and climatic variables on potato performance are discussed in Section 4.2 and Section 4.3 (see below).

4.2. Effect of Variety

Results from this study demonstrated for the first time that the variety Sharpo mira (which was developed for low agrochemical input production systems in Eastern Europe) not only (i) had higher blight resistance and total tuber yields than the variety Santé (which was developed for conventional production systems), but also (ii) that Sarpo mira produced tubers with higher concentrations of the nutritionally desirable mineral nutrients (Ca, Cu, Fe, Mg, Zn) and lower concentrations of the toxic metal Cd. Tuber yields confirmed results of previous variety trials in organic production systems in Northern Britain, which also showed that the variety Sharpo mira produced higher yields and levels of foliar blight resistance/tolerance than a range of other varieties widely used in organic production [20].

These findings suggest that it is possible to breed/select potato genotypes that combine (i) higher late blight resistance, (ii) higher tuber yield, (iii) higher mineral nutrient concentrations, and also (iv) lower concentrations of the toxic metal Cd.

It is interesting to note that previous studies that compared mineral concentrations in modern, high-yielding potato varieties developed for and selected in high-input conventional farming backgrounds were reported to have lower tuber mineral concentrations than older genotypes with a lower yield potential in conventional farming systems [52,53].

These findings are similar to recent studies that compared mineral and Cd concentrations in contrasting wheat varieties, which reported that modern wheat varieties bred/selected for high yield potential in high input conventional production systems have lower grain mineral micronutrients but higher Cd concentrations compared with historic wheat varieties and varieties developed for the organic/low-input farming sector [6,8,53,57,58,59,60]. In this context, it is interesting to note that (i) varieties of the same plant species can differ considerably in mycorrhizal colonization rates [54,61] and (ii) that this may have also contributed to the differences in both Cd and mineral nutrient concentrations between the two varieties in this study.

Previously published results from the NFSC trials for the variety Santé showed that crop management practices used in organic farming systems result in higher concentrations of phenolics and other nutritionally desirable phytochemicals but lower concentrations of nutritionally undesirable pesticides, glycoalkaloids, Cd, and Ni in potato tubers compared with tubers produced with conventional crop management protocols [5]. Although phytochemical concentrations were not compared in the two varieties used in this study, results indicate that the use of the more blight-resistant variety, Sarpo mira, may further improve the nutritional composition of potatoes produced in organic farming systems by increasing mineral micronutrient concentrations and further reducing Cd concentrations in tubers, and this warrants further research.

The finding that a substantially larger proportion of green (which contain toxic glycoalkaloids) and cracked tubers (which cannot be marketed) in the variety Santé (but not Sarpo mira) when produced with organic (but not conventional) crop protection may be explained by differences between (i) weed management methods used in organic and conventional production and (ii) the two varieties in skin color (Sarpo mira has a purple, while Santé has a beige skin color) and the positioning of newly formed tubers in the soil. Specifically, regular ridging used for weed control in organic systems carries a greater risk of exposing tubers to sunlight and tuber damage than the herbicide treatments used in conventional crop protection protocols. Also, Sharpo mira tubers appeared to be positioned slightly deeper in the soil/ridge (when test digs were conducted in August) and have a purple skin color, which may have reduced cracking and/or greening of tubers. Another explanation may be that earlier defoliation by late blight in the variety Sante may have resulted in more rapid drying of the soil surface and/or greater light exposure of ridges in Sante compared with the Sarpo mira plots.

However, detailed measurements of the position of newly formed tubers within the soil/ridge or light exposure of ridges were not carried out in this study. This therefore also warrants further investigation in the future, since the high number of cracked and green tubers resulted in significant tuber losses in Santé produced with organic management protocols.

The effects of interactions between the climatic variables and variety on crop performance parameters are discussed in Section 4.3 (see below).

4.3. Confounding Effects of Climatic Conditions During the Growing Season

The effects of year/growing season identified by 4-factor ANOVA are thought to have been primarily due to differences in climatic conditions between growing seasons because (i) the same crop protection and fertilization protocols were used in all three growing seasons (Supplementary Table S8) and potato crops were grown after winter cereals in all three seasons (winter barley in 2010 and 2011 and winter wheat in 2012; Supplementary Table S3).

Precipitation and associated periods of leaf wetness and high humidity are known to provide optimum conditions for infection of leaves by Phytophthora infestans and the rapid development of late blight epidemics [62,63,64,65]. Also, the use of synthetic chemical fungicides is well documented to result in better late blight control than the Cu-fungicides permitted in organic production [4,5,20].

The findings in this study show that for the more blight-sensitized variety Santé (i), both precipitation and crop protection explained a large proportion of the variation in late blight severity, other health/quality parameters, and tuber yield; (ii) foliar and tuber blight were positively associated with precipitation and organic crop protection, while (iii) tuber yield was negatively associated with precipitation and positively with conventional crop protection, therefore as expected. These results were also consistent with results of previous studies that compared disease severity and tuber yields of Santé and other more blight-susceptible potato varieties in organic and conventional production systems [4,6,17,18,19,20,21,22,23].

In contrast, the finding that for the blight-resistant variety Sarpo mira, precipitation explained a larger proportion of the variation (36%) in crop performance parameters compared with Santé (17%) and was negatively associated with crop yields was unexpected because both foliar and tuber blight severity was very low and not significantly affected by fertilization and crop protection in Sarpo mira. Also, the soils at Nafferton Farm are relatively free draining, and insufficient soil water availability is known to be an important yield-limiting factor in many UK potato production areas, where irrigation is widely used in potato crops to improve both tuber yields and quality (e.g., to lower common scab incidence and severity) [66,67,68], which makes it unlikely that precipitation had a direct negative effect on potato growth and tuber yields. However, radiation (which was negatively correlated with total precipitation and positively with cumulative temperature) was (i) also identified as a significant explanatory variable/driver and (ii) positively associated with tuber yields in Sarpo mira (but not Santé) in this study. Since temperatures in Northern Britain are thought to be lower than those required for optimum potato growth and tuber yields [68], it is more likely that temperature and possibly irradiation were the primary direct drivers for crop growth and yield in the late blight-resistant variety Sarpo mira.

This view is supported by predictions that the increase in temperature due to global climate change in the UK may result in more favorable growing conditions for the potato crop in the UK [68].

5. Conclusions

This study confirms results of previous field experimental studies that the use of late-bight-resistant varieties is one of the most important strategies to improve potato tuber yields and quality, especially in organic production where highly effective fungicide treatments are currently not available.

The results obtained for the variety Sarpo mira also demonstrated, for the first time, the potential to breed/select potato varieties for organic and low-input production systems that combine higher (i) late-blight resistance, (ii) tuber yields and yield stability, and (iii) nutritional value (higher mineral macro- and micro-nutrient and lower toxic Cd concentrations) than the varieties currently used. Since there is growing evidence that agronomic practices used in organic farming systems also improve nutritional composition parameters (e.g., higher concentrations of phenolics and other nutritionally desirable phytochemicals but lower concentrations of nutritionally undesirable pesticides, Cd and Ni), the introduction of varieties such as Sarpo mira could further improve the nutritional value of organic potatoes and consumer confidence in the nutritional benefits of organic products.

The interactions between genetic and environmental/agronomic parameters and both late blight and scab incidence in Sharpo mira warrant further investigation since changes in temperature, precipitation, and associated need for irrigation in potato production predicted for the UK were found to have contrasting impacts on the severity of these two main tuber yield-determining diseases.

Supplementary Materials

The following supporting information can be downloaded at: https://www.mdpi.com/article/10.3390/agronomy15010089/s1, Figure S1: Principal layout of rotation main plots, crop protection sub-plots, and fertilization sub-sub-plots in each of the four replicate experiments; Figure S2: Bi-plot resulting from the RDA showing the associations between climate and agronomic explanatory variables/drivers and potato health and tuber yield response variables; Figure S3: Bi-plot resulting from the RDA showing the associations between climate and agronomic explanatory variables/drivers and potato health and tuber yield response variables; Table S1: Soil physical characteristics in the field used for the NFSC trials. Table S2: Climatic conditions during the three growing seasons in which phytochemical analyses were carried out; Table S3: Rotation/sequence of crops in the four replicate experiments of the Nafferton Factorial Systems Comparison (NFSC) trial between 2005 and 2017; Table S4: Mineral composition of farmyard manure (FYM) used in experiments for potato crops in 2010, 2011, and 2012 growing seasons; Table S5: Mineral macronutrient concentrations (N, C, P, K, Ca, S, and Mg) in soil samples taken after crop harvest in all plots of the NFSC trial in 2009; Table S6: Mineral micronutrient concentrations (Fe, Zn, Cu, B) in soil samples taken after crop harvest in all plots of the NFSC trial in 2009. Table S7: Toxic metal (Al, Pb, Ni, Cd) concentrations in soil samples taken after crop harvest in all plots of the NFSC trial in 2009. Table S8: Crop protection/defoliation protocols and fertilization regimes used in potato crops grown in the NFSC trials in 2010, 2011 and 2012; Table S9: Effect of year/growing season (Y, 2010, 2011, 2012), crop protection protocols (P, organic versus conventional), fertilization (F, mineral NPK versus farmyard manure) and variety (V, Santé vs. Sharpo mira) on plant health and performance parameters in potato crops grown in Northern Britain; Table S10: Effect of year/growing season (Y, 2010, 2011, 2012), crop protection protocols (P, organic versus conventional), fertilization (F, mineral NPK versus farmyard manure) and variety (V, Santé vs. Sharpo mira) on mineral macro and micronutrients, and toxic metals in potato tubers grown in Northern Britain. Table S11: Effect of year/growing season (Y, 2010, 2011, 2012), crop protection protocols (P, organic versus conventional), fertilization (F, mineral NPK versus farmyard manure) and variety (V, Santé vs Sharpo mira) on mineral macro and micronutrients, and toxic metals in potato tubers grown in Northern Britain; values shown are main effect means ± SE and yields are expressed on a dry weight (DW) basis. Table S12: Effect of crop protection protocols (organic versus conventional), fertilization (mineral NPK versus farmyard manure), and variety (Santé vs Sharpo mira) on concentrations of mineral macronutrients in potato tubers; values shown are main effect means ± SE and yields are expressed on a dry weight (DW) basis. Table S13: Effect of crop protection protocols (organic versus conventional), fertilization (mineral NPK versus farmyard manure) and pre-crop (spring beans versus winter barley) and variety (Santé vs Sharpo mira) on concentrations of mineral micronutrients and toxic metals in potato tubers; values shown are main effect means ± SE and yields are expressed on a dry weight (DW) basis.

Author Contributions

Conceptualization, G.H., N.V., C.L. and L.R.; methodology, G.H., P.S., I.C., C.L. and L.R.; software, L.R.; validation, G.H., M.B., D.Ś.-T., P.O.I., P.B. and C.L.; formal analysis, L.R., J.W., M.B. and C.L.; investigation, G.H., O.G., L.R., J.W., M.B., E.K.S., D.K., J.G., P.S., H.L., D.S-T., L.O., N.V. and L.R.; resources, C.L. and I.C.; data curation, L.R.; writing—original draft preparation, G.H., C.L. and L.R.; writing—review and editing, G.H., O.G., J.W., M.B., E.K.S., D.K., J.G., P.S., H.L., D.S-T., I.C., L.O., B.Z., P.O.I., N.V., P.B., C.L. and L.R.; visualization, C.L. and L.R.; supervision, P.S., I.C., P.B. and C.L.; project administration, G.H., J.G., P.B. and C.L.; funding acquisition, I.C. and C.L. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Funding

European Union’s fifth (QualityLowInputFood Grant Agreement 506358), sixth (NUE Crops Grant Agreement 222-645), and seventh (HealthyMinorCereals, Grant Agreement 613609) Framework Program, and the Sheepdrove Trust.

Data Availability Statement

Data are available from Leonidas Rempelos upon reasonable request.

Acknowledgments

The authors also thank Catherine Leifert for proofreading the article.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest. The funders had no role in the design of the study, in the collection, analysis, or interpretation of data, in the writing of the manuscript, or in the decision to publish the results.

References

Devaux, A.; Goffart, J.P.; Kromann, P.; Andrade-Piedra, J.; Polar, V.; Hareau, G. The Potato of the Future: Opportunities and Challenges in Sustainable Agri-food Systems. Potato Res. 2021, 64, 681–720. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
USDA. Food Data Central. Potatoes, Boiled, Cooked in Skin, Flesh, Without Salt. Available online: https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.html#/food-details/170438/nutrients (accessed on 11 December 2024).
Swain, E.Y.; Orr, C.H.; Rempelos, L.; Hall, G.; Chapman, R.; Almadni, M.; Stockdale, E.A.; Leifert, C.; Cooper, J.M. Optimizing nutrient use efficiency in wheat and potatoes: Interactions between genotypes and agronomic practices. Euphytica 2014, 199, 119–136. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
Palmer, M.W.; Cooper, J.; Tétard-Jones, C.; Dominika Średnicka-Tober, D.; Barański, M.; Eyre, M.; Shotton, P.; Volakakis, N.; Cakmak, I.; Ozturk, L.; et al. The influence of organic and conventional fertilisation and crop protection practices, preceding crop, harvest year and weather conditions on yield and quality of potato (Solanum tuberosum) in a long-term management trial. Eur. J. Agron. 2013, 49, 83–92. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
Rempelos, L.; Baránski, M.; Sufar, E.K.; Gilroy, J.; Shotton, P.; Leifert, H.; Srednicka-Tober, D.; Hasanaliyeva, G.; Rosa, E.A.S.; Hajslova, J.; et al. Effect of Climatic Conditions, and Agronomic Practices Used in Organic and Conventional Crop Production on Yield and Nutritional Composition Parameters in Potato, Cabbage, Lettuce and Onion; Results from the Long-Term NFSC-Trials. Agronomy 2023, 13, 1225. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
Rempelos, L.; Baranski, M.; Wang, J.; Adams, T.N.; Adebusuyi, K.; Beckman, J.J.; Brockbank, C.J.; Douglas, B.S.; Feng, T.; Greenway, J.D.; et al. Integrated Soil and Crop Management in Organic Agriculture: A Logical Framework to Ensure Food Quality and Human Health? Agronomy 2021, 11, 2494. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
Rempelos, L.; Almuayrifi, A.M.; Baranski, M.; Tetard-Jones, C.; Eyre, M.; Shotton, P.; Cakmak, I.; Ozturk, L.; Cooper, J.; Volakakis, N.; et al. Effects of agronomic management and climate on leaf phenolic profiles, disease severity and grain yield in organic and conventional wheat production systems. J. Agric. Food Chem. 2018, 66, 10369–10379. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
Rempelos, L.; Almuayrifi, M.S.B.; Barański, M.; Tetard-Jones, C.; Barkla, B.; Cakmak, I.; Ozturk, L.; Cooper, J.; Volakakis, N.; Hall, G.; et al. The effect of agronomic factors on crop health and performance of winter wheat varieties bred for the conventional and the low input farming sector. Field Crops Res. 2020, 254, 107822. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
Bilsborrow, P.; Cooper, J.; Tétard-Jones, C.; Średnicka-Tober, D.; Barański, M.; Eyre, M.; Shotton, P.; Volakakis, N.; Cakmak, I.; Ozturk, L.; et al. The effect of organic and conventional crop production systems on the yield and quality of wheat (Triticum aestivum) grown in a long-term field trial. Eur. J. Agron. 2013, 51, 71–80. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
Seufert, V.; Ramankutty, N.; Foley, J.A. Comparing the yields in organic and conventional agriculture. Nature 2012, 485, 229–234. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
Ponti, T.; Rijk, B.; van Ittérsum, M.K. The crop yield gap between organic and conventional agriculture. Agric. Syst. 2012, 108, 1–9. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
EC. QualityLowInputFoods. Improving the Quality and Safety and Reduction of Cost in the European Organic and ‘Low Input’ Supply Chains. Available online: https://cordis.europa.eu/article/id/89044-food-of-the-future (accessed on 11 December 2024).
Zanoli, R.; François, M.; Midmore, P.; O’Doherty-Jensen, K.; Ritson, C. Determining Consumer Expectations, Attitudes and Buying Behaviour Towards “Low Input” and Organic Foods. 2007. Available online: https://orgprints.org/id/eprint/10442/ (accessed on 11 December 2024).
O’Doherty Jensen, K.; Denver, S.; Zanoli, R. Actual and potential development of consumer demand on the organic food market in Europe. NJAS Wagening. J. Life Sci. 2011, 58, 79–84. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
Rana, J.; Paul, J. Consumer behavior and purchase intention for organic food: A review and research agenda. J. Retail. Consum. Serv. 2017, 38, 157–165. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
Gundala, R.R.; Singh, A. What motivates consumers to buy organic foods? Results of an empirical study in the United States. PLoS ONE 2021, 16, e0257288. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
EC. Blight-MOP. Development of a Systems Approach for the Management of Late Blight in EU Potato Production. Available online: https://cordis.europa.eu/article/id/85029-controlling-late-blight-with-resistant-potatoes (accessed on 11 December 2024).
EC. NUE-Crops. Improving Nutrient Efficiency in Major European Food, Feed and Biofuel Crops to Reduce the Negative Environmental Impact of Crop Production. Available online: https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/222645/reporting (accessed on 11 December 2024).
Hospers-Brands, A.J.T.M.; Ghorbani, R.; Bremer, E.; Bain, R.; Litterick, A.; Halder, F.; Leifert, C.; Wilcockson, S.J. Effects of pre-sprouting, planting date, plant population and configuration on late blight and yield of organic potato crops grown with different cultivars. Pot. Res. 2008, 51, 131–150. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
Speiser, B.; Tamm, L.; Amsler, T.; Lambion, J.; Bertrand, C.; Hermansen, A.; Ruissen, M.A.; Haaland, P.; Zarb, J.; Santos, J.; et al. Field tests of blight control methods for organic farming: Tolerant varieties and copper fungicides. Biol. Agric. Hortic. 2006, 23, 393–412. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
EC. Identifying Nutrient-Efficient Crops. Available online: https://cordis.europa.eu/article/id/88796-identifying-nutrientefficient-crops (accessed on 11 December 2024).
Tiwari, J.K.; Buckseth, T.; Singh, R.K.; Kumar, M.; Kant, S. Prospects of Improving Nitrogen Use Efficiency in Potato: Lessons From Transgenics to Genome Editing Strategies in Plants. Front. Plant. Sci. 2020, 11, 597481. [Google Scholar]
EC. Ecobreeds. Increasing the Efficiency and Competitiveness of Organic Crop Breeding. Available online: https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/771367 (accessed on 11 December 2024).
Blatnik, E.; Horvat, M.; Berne, S.; Humar, M.; Dolničar, P.; Meglič, V. Late Blight Resistance Conferred by Rpi-Smira2/R8 in Potato Genotypes In Vitro Depends on the Genetic Background. Plants 2022, 11, 1319. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
Hailu, G.; Nigussie, D.; Ali, M.; Derbew, B. Nitrogen and Phosphorus Use Efficiency in Improved Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) Cultivars in Southern Ethiopia. Am. J. Potato Res. 2017, 94, 617–631. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
Zebarth, B.J.; Tai, G.; Tarn, R.; de Jong, H.; Milburn, P.H. Nitrogen use efficiency characteristics of commercial potato cultivars. Can. J. Plant Sci. 2004, 84, 589–598. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
Getahun, B.B.; Kassie, M.M.; Visser, R.G.F.; van der Linden, C.G. Genetic Diversity of Potato Cultivars for Nitrogen Use Efficiency Under Contrasting Nitrogen Regimes. Potato Res. 2020, 63, 267–290. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
Trehan, S.P.; Singh, B.P. Nutrient Efficiency of Different Crop Species and Potato Varieties—In Retrospect and Prospect. Potato J. 2013, 40, 1–21. [Google Scholar]
Milroy, S.P.; Wang, P.; Sadras, V.O. Defining upper limits of nitrogen uptake and nitrogen use efficiency of potato in response to crop N supply. Field Crops Res. 2019, 239, 38–46. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
Wacker-Fester, K.; Uptmoor, R.; Pfahler, V.; Dehmer, K.J.; Bachmann-Pfabe, S.; Kavka, M. Genotype-Specific Differences in Phosphorus Efficiency of Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.). Front. Plant Sci. 2019, 10, 1029. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
White, P.J.; Bradshaw, J.E.; Brown, L.K.; Dale, M.F.B.; Dupuy, L.X.; George, T.S.; Hammond, J.P.; Subramanian, N.K.; Thompson, J.A.; Wishart, J.; et al. Juvenile root vigour improves phosphorus use efficiency of potato. Plant Soil 2018, 432, 45–63. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
Lee, W.C.; Liu, G.; Alva, A.K. Potato Cultivar Evaluation for Phosphorus-Use Efficiency. J. Crop Improv. 2013, 27, 617–626. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
Gitari, H.I.; Karanja, N.N.; Gachene, C.K.K.; Kamau, S.; Sharma, K.; Schulte-Geldermann, E. Nitrogen and phosphorous uptake by potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) and their use efficiency under potato-legume intercropping systems. Field Crops Res. 2018, 222, 78–84. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
Shepherd, L.V.T.; Hackett, C.A.; Alexander, C.J.; Sungurtas, J.A.; Pont, S.D.A.; Steward, D.; McNicol, J.W.; Wilkinson, S.J.; Leifert, C.; Davies, H.V. Effect of agricultural production systems on the potato metabolome. Metabolomics 2014, 10, 212–224. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
Tétard-Jones, C.; Shotton, P.N.; Rempelos, L.; Cooper, J.; Eyre, M.; Orr, C.; Leifert, C.; Gatehouse, A.M.R. Quantitative proteomics to study the response of wheat to contrasting fertilisation regimes. Mol. Breed. 2013, 31, 379–393. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
Rempelos, L.; Cooper, J.; Wilcockson, S.; Eyre, M.; Shotton, P.; Volakakis, N.; Orr, C.H.; Leifert, C.; Gatehouse, A.M.R.; Tétard-Jones, C. Quantitative proteomics to study the response of potato to contrasting fertilisation regimes. Mol. Breed. 2013, 31, 363–378. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
van Dijk, J.P.; Cankar, K.; Hendriksen, P.J.M.; Beenen, H.G.; Zhu, M.; Scheffer, S.; Shepherd, L.V.T.; Stewart, D.; Davies, H.V.; Leifert, C.; et al. The assessment of differences in the transcriptomes of organically and conventionally grown potato tubers. J. Agric. Food Chem. 2012, 60, 2090–2101. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
Tatarowska, B.; Milczarek, D.; Plich, J. The Content of Total Carotenoids, Vitamin C and Antioxidant Properties of 65 Potato Cultivars Characterised under the European Project ECOBREED. Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2023, 24, 11716. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
Avery, B.W. Soil Classification for England and Wales (Higher Categories). In British Soil Survey, Technical Monograph No. 14.; British Soil Survey: Harpenden, UK, 1980. [Google Scholar]
FAO. World Reference Base for Soil Resources; Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations: Rome, Italy, 1998. [Google Scholar]
Mehlich, A. Mehlich 3 soil test extractant: A modification of Mehlich 2 extractant. Commun. Soil Sci. Plant Anal. 1984, 12, 1409–1416. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
Almadi, M.A. Impact of Agricultural Management on Risks of Nitrate Leaching in Crop Rotations with Potatoes and Cereals. Ph.D. Thesis, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK, 2016. [Google Scholar]
Pinheiro, J.C.; Bates, D.M. Mixed-Effects Models in S and S-Plus; Springer: New York, NY, USA, 2000. [Google Scholar]
R Core Team. R: A Language and Environment for Statistical Computing; R Foundation for Statistical Computing: Vienna, Austria, 2017; Available online: http://www.R-project.org/ (accessed on 11 December 2024).
Crawley, M.J. The R Book; John Wiley & Sons Ltd.: Chichester, UK, 2013. [Google Scholar]
Wierzbowska, J.; Rychcik, B.; Światly, A. The effect of different production systems on the content of micronutrients and trace elements in potato tubers. Acta Agric. Scand. B Soil Plant Sci. 2018, 68, 701–708. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
Wszelaki, A.L.; Delwiche, J.F.; Walker, S.D.; Liggett, R.E.; Scheerens, J.C.; Kleinhenz, M.D. Sensory quality and mineral and glycoalkaloid concentrations in organically and conventionally grown redskin potatoes (Solanum tuberosum). J. Sci. Food Agric. 2005, 85, 720–726. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
Cooper, J.; Sanderson, R.; Cakmak, I.; Ozturk, L.; Shotton, P.; Carmichael, A.; Sadrabadi Haghighi, R.; Tetard-Jones, C.; Volakakis, N.; Eyre, M.; et al. Effect of organic and conventional crop rotation, fertilization and crop protection practices on metal contents in wheat (Triticum aestivum). J. Agric. Food Chem. 2011, 59, 4715–4724. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
Burandt, Q.C.; Deising, H.B.; von Tiedemann, A. Further limitations of synthetic use and expansion of organic agriculture in Europe will increase the environmental and health risk of chemical crop protection caused by copper-containing fungicides. Environ. Toxicol. Chem. 2024, 43, 19–20. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
Sinclair, A.; Edwards, T.; Coull, M. Management of Copper in Soils for Cereals. SRUC Technical Note TN657. Available online: https://www.sruc.ac.uk/media/u5hjmti2/tn657.pdf (accessed on 14 December 2024).
Clarkson, A.H.; Paine, S.; Martín-Tereso, J.; Kendall, N.R. Copper physiology in ruminants: Trafficking of systemic copper, adaptation to variation in nutritional supply and thiomolybdate challenge. Nutr. Res. Rev. 2019, 33, 43–49. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
Hasanaliyeva, G.; Sufar, E.K.; Wang, J.; Rempelos, L.; Volakakis, N.; Iversen, P.O.; Leifert, C. Effects of Agricultural Intensification on Mediterranean Diets: A Narrative Review. Foods 2023, 12, 3779. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
White, P.J.; Bradshaw, J.E.; Finlay, M.; Dale, B.; Ramsay, G.; Hammond, J.P.; Broadley, M.R. Relationships Between Yield and Mineral Concentrations in Potato Tubers. HortScience 2009, 44, 6–11. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
Cakmak, I.; Lambers, H.; Grant, C.A.; Zhao, F.J. Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi: Key players in avoiding cadmium accumulation in food crops. Plant Soil 2023, 448, 13–32. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
Ma, X.; Geng, Q.; Zhang, H.; Bian, C.; Chen, H.Y.; Jiang, D.; Xu, X. Global negative efects of nutrient enrichment on arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, plant diversity and ecosystem multifunctionality. New Phytol. 2021, 229, 2957–2969. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
Yazici, M.A.; Asif, M.; Tutus, Y.; Ortas, I.; Ozturk, L.; Lambers, H.; Cakmak, I. Reduced root mycorrhizal colonization as affected by phosphorus fertilization is responsible for high cadmium accumulation in wheat. Plant Soil 2021, 468, 19–35. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
Wilkinson, A.; Wilkinson, J.N.; Shotton, P.; Sufar, E.K.; Hasanaliyeva, G.; Volakakis, N.; Cakmak, I.; Ozturk, L.; Bilsborrow, P.; Iversen, P.O.; et al. Improving Crop Health, Performance, and Quality in Organic Spring Wheat Production: The Need to Understand Interactions between Pedoclimatic Conditions, Variety, and Fertilization. Agronomy 2023, 13, 2349. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
Wang, J.; Baranski, M.; Korkut, R.; Kalee, H.A.; Wood, L.; Willson, A.; Barkla, B.; Iversen, P.O.; Bilsborrow, P.; Rempelos, L.; et al. Effect of irrigation, fertiliser type and variety choice on grain yield and nutritional quality parameters in spelt wheat (Triticum spelta) grown under semi-arid conditions. Food Chem. 2021, 358, 129826. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
Murphy, K.M.; Campbell, K.G.; Lyon, S.R.; Jones, S.S. Evidence of varietal adaptation to organic farming systems. Field Crops Res. 2007, 102, 172–177. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
Rempelos, L.; Wang, J.; Sufar, E.K.; Almuayrifi, M.S.B.; Knutt, D.; Leifert, H.; Leifert, A.; Wilkinson, A.; Shotton, P.; Hasanaliyeva, G.; et al. Breeding Bread-Making Wheat Varieties for Organic Farming Systems: The Need to Target Productivity, Robustness, Resource Use Efficiency and Grain Quality Traits. Foods 2023, 12, 1209. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
De Vita, P.D.; Avio, L.; Sbrana, C.; Laidò, G.; Marone, D.; Mastrangelo, A.M.; Cattivelli, L.; Giovannetti, M. Genetic markers associated to arbuscular mycorrhizal colonization in durum wheat. Sci. Rep. 2018, 8, 10612. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
Cooke, L.R.; Schepers, H.T.A.M.; Hermansen, A.; Bain, R.A.; Bradshaw, N.J.; Ritchie, F.; Shaw, D.S.; Evenhuis, A.; Kessel, G.J.T.; Wander, J.G.N.; et al. Epidemiology and Integrated Control of Potato Late Blight in Europe. Potato Res. 2011, 54, 183–222. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
Tiwari, I.; Shah, K.K.; Tripathi, S.; Modi, B.; Subedi, S.; Shrestha, J. Late blight of potato and its management through the application of different fungicides and organic amendments: A review. J. Agric. Nat. Resour. 2021, 4, 301–320. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
Suo-meng Dong, S.-M.; Zhou, S.G. Potato late blight caused by Phytophthora infestans: From molecular interactions to integrated management strategies. J. Integr. Agric. 2022, 21, 3456–3466. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
Yuen, J. Pathogens which threaten food security: Phytophthora infestans, the potato late blight pathogen. Food Sec. 2023, 13, 247–253. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
AHDB. Potato Irrigation. Available online: https://potatoes.ahdb.org.uk/knowledge-library/potato-irrigation (accessed on 17 March 2024).
DEFRA. Water Management for Potatoes; A Guide for Growers. Available online: https://www.ukia.org/docs/booklets/water%20management%20for%20potatoes.pdf (accessed on 11 December 2024).
Knox, J.; Daccache, A.; Weatherhead, K.; Stalham, M. Climate Change and Potatoes; The Risks, Impacts and Opportunities for UK Potato Production. Available online: https://potatoes.ahdb.org.uk/climate-change-impacts-on-uk-potato-production-industry-options-and-responses (accessed on 11 December 2024).

Figure 1. Bi-plot resulting from the RDA showing the associations between climate and agronomic explanatory variables/drivers and potato health and tuber yield response variables for the varieties Santé and Sarpo mira. Data included were from three growing seasons/years (2010, 2011, 2012). For the variety Santé, the horizontal axis 1 explains 31.7% of the variation and the vertical axis 2 a further 10.2%. For the variety Sapro mira, the horizontal axis 1 explains 24.4% of the variation and the vertical axis 2 a further 12.9%. NC, not computed. Continuous explanatory variables (△): PRE, precipitation; RAD, radiation; TEMP, temperature. Fixed explanatory variables (▲): CP, conventional crop protection; OP, organic crop protection; CF, conventional fertilization (mineral NPK); OF, organic fertilization (farmyard manure). Response variables (▲): fwy, fresh weight yield, dwy, dry weight yield; my+ST, marketable fresh weight yield including tubers with scab; my-ST, marketable fresh weight yield excluding tubers with scab; fb, foliar blight (AUDPC); tb, % of tubers with tuber blight; sc, % of tubers with scab; sl, % of tubers with slug damage; gt, % of green tubers; ct, % cracked tubers.

Figure 2. Bi-plot resulting from the RDA showing the associations between climate and agronomic explanatory variables/drivers and potato health and tuber yield response variables for the varieties Santé and Sarpo mira. Data included were from three growing seasons/years (2010, 2011, 2012). For the variety Santé, the horizontal axis 1 explains 34.7% of the variation and vertical axis 2 a further 10.0%. For the variety Sapro mira, horizontal axis 1 explains 25.6% of the variation and vertical axis 2 a further 8.0%. NC, not computed. Continuous explanatory variables (△): PRE, precipitation; RAD, radiation; TEMP, temperature. Fixed explanatory variables (▲): CP, conventional crop protection; OP, organic crop protection; CF, conventional fertilization (mineral NPK); OF, organic fertilization (farmyard manure). Response variables (▲): Macronutrients: N, nitrogen; P, phosphorus; K, potassium; S, sulfur; Ca, calcium; Mg, magnesium. Micronutrients: B, boron; Cu, copper; Fe, iron; Zn, zinc; Toxic metals: Al, aluminum; Cd, cadmium; Ni, nickel; Pb, lead.

Table 1. Effect of crop protection protocols (organic versus conventional), fertilization (mineral NPK versus farmyard manure), pre-crop (spring beans versus winter barley), and variety (Santé vs. Sharpo mira) on plant health, crop growth, and tuber mineral macronutrient concentrations in potato crops grown in Northern Britain. Values shown are main effect means ± SE, and yields are expressed on a fresh weight basis; significantly higher means (p < 0.05) are highlighted in bold.

	Crop Protection (P)		Fertilizer Type (F)		Variety (V)
Parameters	CON	ORG	CON	ORG	Santé	S. mira	Main Effects			2-Way Interactions ¹
Assessed	(n = 48)	(n = 48)	(n = 48)	(n = 48)	(n = 48)	(n = 48)	P	F	V	P × F	P × V	F × V
Health
Foliar blight (AUDPC)	3.3 ±1.0	27.1 ±6.9	11.0 ±3.5	19.6 ±6.3	28.4 ±6.9	2.2 0.4	**	NS	***	NS	** ²	NS
Tuber blight (% FW yield)	2.3 ±0.5	2.0 ±0.4	2.4 ±0.5	2.0 ±0.4	3.7 ±0.6	0.7 ±0.2	NS	NS	***	NS	NS ²	NS
Scab (% FW yield)	3.0 ±0.7	4.1 ±0.9	3.5 ±0.8	3.7 ±0.8	0.3 ±0.2	6.7 ±0.9	NS	NS	***	NS	T	NS
Slug damage (% FW yield)	1.8 ±0.3	1.9 ±0.2	1.5 ±0.2	2.2 ±0.3	1.6 ±0.2	2.0 ±0.3	NS	*	NS	NS	NS	NS
Tuber yield (t/ha)
Total yield	33 ±1	27 ±1	34 ±1	26 ±1	29 ±1	31 ±1	***	***	***	T	NS	NS
Marketable yield +ST	28 ±1	22 ±1	28 ±1	22 ±1	24 ±1	26 ±1	***	***	**	T	NS	NS
Marketable yield −ST	27 ±1	21 ±1	27 ±1	21 ±1	24 ±1	24 ±1	***	***	NS	T	NS	NS
Tuber DM yield (t/ha)	7.5 ±0.3	6.3 ±0.3	7.6 ±0.3	6.2 ±0.3	6.4 ±0.3	7.4 ±0.3	***	***	***	NS	NS	NS
Discarded tubers (% of yield)
Green	1.1 ±0.2	1.6 ±0.2	1.4 ±0.2	1.2 ±0.2	1.6 ±0.2	1.1 ±0.2	*	NS	*	NS	* ²	NS
mechanically damaged	3.2 ±0.3	3.0 ±0.4	2.8 ±0.3	3.2 ±0.4	2.9 ±0.3	3.2 ±0.3	NS	NS	NS	NS	NS	NS
cracked	0.5 ±0.2	2.2 ±0.8	1.2 ±0.5	1.6 ±0.7	2.6 ±0.8	0.1 0.1	***	NS	***	NS	*** ²	NS

P, crop protection; F, fertilizer type; V, variety; CON, conventional; ORG, organic; NS, not significant; T, trend (0.1 > p > 0.05); *, 0.05 > p > 0.01; ** 0.01 > p > 0.001; ***, p < 0.001; NA, not available; AUDPC, area under the disease progress curve; data are from three growing seasons (2010, 2011, 2012); FW, fresh weight; DM, dry matter. ¹, no significant 3-way interactions (P × F × V) were detected for the parameters reported; ² see Table 2 for interaction means.

Table 2. Interaction means (n = 24) for the effect of crop protection protocols (organic versus conventional) and variety (Santé vs. Sarpo mira) on the severity of foliar and tuber blight, the proportion of green and cracked potato tubers, and tuber Fe concentrations.

Parameter	Factor 1	Factor 2	Variety
Assessed	Crop Protection	Santé	Sharpo mira
Foliar blight severity	Conventional	5.3 ± 2.0 b	1.6 ± 0.3 b
(AUDPC)	Organic	51.4 ± 12 a	2.9 ± 0.8 b

Tuber blight	Conventional	4.0 ± 1.0 a	0.7 ± 0.3 b
(% of FW yield)	Organic	3.4 ± 0.6 a	0.7 ± 0.3 b

Green tubers	Conventional	1.1 ± 0.2 b	1.1 ± 0.2 b
(% of FW yield)	Organic	2.1 ± 0.3 a	1.1 ± 0.3 b

Cracked tubers	Conventional	0.9 ± 0.3 b	0.2 ± 0.1 b
(% of FW yield)	Organic	4.3 ± 1.6 a	0.1 ± 0.1 b

Fe	Conventional	9.6 ± 0.7 b	12.3 ± 1.0 a
(mg/kg)	Organic	10.3 ± 1.1 b	11.2 ± 0.6 ab

AUDPC, area under the disease progress curve; FW, fresh weight; For the same parameter, means ± SE labeled with the same letter are not significantly different (Tukey’s contrasts, p < 0.05).

Table 3. Effect of crop protection protocols (organic versus conventional), fertilization (mineral NPK versus farmyard manure), and variety (Santé vs. Sharpo mira) on concentrations of mineral macronutrients in potato tubers. Values shown are main effect means ± SE, and yields are expressed on a fresh weight (FW) basis; significantly higher means are highlighted in bold.

	Crop Protection (P)		Fertilizer Type (F)		Variety (V)		ANOVA Results (p-Values)
Parameters	CON	ORG	CON	ORG	Santé	S. mira	Main Effects			2-Way Interactions ¹
Assessed	(n = 48)	(n = 48)	(n = 48)	(n = 48)	(n = 48)	(n = 48)	P	F	V	P × F	P × V	F × V
Macro-nutrients
N (mg/g FW)	2.1 ±0.1	2.0 ±0.1	2.1 ±0.1	1.9 ±0.1	2.0 ±0.1	2.0 ±0.1	NS	**	NS	NS	NS	NS
P (mg/g FW)	0.41 ±0.01	0.43 ±0.01	0.40 ±0.01	0.44 ±0.01	0.38 ±0.01	0.46 ±0.01	**	***	***	NS	NS	NS
K (mg/g FW)	3.3 ±0.1	3.4 ±0.1	3.2 ±0.1	3.4 ±0.1	3.0 ±0.1	3.6 ±0.1	NS	***	**	NS	NS	NS
S (mg/kg FW)	256 ±5	251 ±4	244 ±4	264 ±5	245 ±4	262 ±5	NS	***	***	NS	NS	NS
Ca (mg/kg FW)	65 ±2	66 ±2	66 ±2	65 ±2	56 ±2	74 ±1	NS	NS	***	NS	NS	NS
Mg (mg/kg FW)	193 ±4	198 ±4	192 ±4	199 ±4	188 ±4	203 ±4	NS	*	***	NS	NS	NS

P, crop protection; F, fertilizer type; V, variety; CON, conventional; ORG, organic; NS, not significant; T, trend (0.1 > p > 0.05); *, 0.05 > p > 0.01; ** 0.01 > p > 0.001; ***, p < 0.001; NA, not available; AUDPC, area under the disease progress curve; Data are from three growing seasons (2010, 2011, 2012). ¹, No significant 3-way interactions (P × F × V) were detected for the parameters reported.

Table 4. Effect of crop protection protocols (organic versus conventional), fertilization (mineral NPK versus farmyard manure), pre-crop (spring beans versus winter barley), and variety (Santé vs. Sharpo mira) on concentrations of mineral micronutrients and toxic metals in potato tubers. Values shown are main effect means ± SE, and yields are expressed on a fresh weight (FW) basis; significantly higher means are highlighted in bold.

	Crop Protection (P)		Fertilizer Type (F)		Variety (V)		ANOVA Results (p-Values)
Parameter	CON	ORG	CON	ORG	Santé	S. mira	Main Effects			2-Way Interactions ¹
Assessed	(n = 48)	(n = 48)	(n = 48)	(n = 48)	(n = 48)	(n = 48)	P	F	V	P × F	P × V	F × V
Micro-nutrients
B (mg/kg)	1.46 ±0.04	1.48 ±0.03	1.43 ±0.03	1.51 ±0.03	1.33 ±0.03	1.61 ±0.03	NS	***	***	NS	NS	NS
Cu (mg/kg)	0.93 ±0.02	1.04 ±0.03	0.98 ±0.03	1.00 ±0.02	0.90 ±0.02	1.08 ±0.02	***	NS	***	NS	NS	NS
Fe (mg/kg)	10.9 ±0.6	10.8 ±0.6	10.9 ±0.6	10.8 ±0.6	10.0 ±0.6	11.7 ±0.6	NS	NS	***	NS	* ²	** ³
Zn (mg/kg)	2.5 ±0.1	2.4 ±0.1	2.4 ±0.1	2.5 ±0.1	2.4 ±0.1	2.5 ±0.1	NS	NS	*	NS	NS	NS
Toxic metals
Al (mg/kg)	11.2 ±1.1	11.1 ±1.0	11.3 ±1.1	11.0 ±1.0	10.4 ±1.0	11.9 ±11.0	NS	NS	NS	NS	NS	** ³
Cd (µg/kg)	23 ±1	22 ±1	25 ±1	20 ±1	25 ±1	20 ±1	NS	***	***	NS	NS	T ³
Ni (µg/kg)	49 ±4	42 ±2	48 ±2	44 ±4	48 ±1	43 ±1	NS	NS	NS	NS	NS	NS
Pb (µg/kg)	14.6 ±0.7	15.4 ±0.7	14.6 ±0.7	15.5 ±0.7	14.5 ±0.7	15.5 ±0.7	NS	NS	T	NS	NS	NS

P, crop protection; F, fertilizer type; V, variety; CON, conventional; ORG, organic; NS, not significant; T, trend (0.1 > p > 0.05); *, 0.05 > p > 0.01; ** 0.01 > p > 0.001; ***, p < 0.001; NA, not available; AUDPC, area under the disease progress curve; Data are from three growing seasons (2010, 2011, 2012). ¹, no significant 3-way interactions (P × F × V) were detected for the parameters reported; ² see Table 2 for interaction means; ³ see Table 5 for interaction means.

Table 5. Interaction means (n = 24) for the effects of fertilization (NPK, mineral N, P, and K fertilizer; FYM, farmyard manure) and variety (Santé; Sarpo mira) on concentrations of Fe, Al, and Cd in potato tubers.

Parameter	Factor 1	Factor 2	Variety
Assessed	Fertilization	Santé	Sharpo mira
Fe	NPK	9.5 ± 0.8 c	12.3 ± 0.9 a
(mg/kg)	FYM	10.4 ± 1.0 bc	11.1 ± 0.8 ab

Al	NPK	8.8 ± 1.1 b	13.9 ± 1.8 a
(mg/kg)	FYM	12.1 ± 1.7 ab	9.9 ± 0.8 ab

Cd	NPK	29 ± 2 a	22 ± 1 b
(μg/kg)	FYM	21 ± 1 b	18 ± 1 b

For the same parameter, means ± SE labeled with the same letter are not significantly different (Tukey’s contrasts, p < 0.05).

Disclaimer/Publisher’s Note: The statements, opinions and data contained in all publications are solely those of the individual author(s) and contributor(s) and not of MDPI and/or the editor(s). MDPI and/or the editor(s) disclaim responsibility for any injury to people or property resulting from any ideas, methods, instructions or products referred to in the content.

© 2024 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

Share and Cite

MDPI and ACS Style

Hasanaliyeva, G.; Giannakopoulou, O.; Wang, J.; Barański, M.; Sufar, E.K.; Knutt, D.; Gilroy, J.; Shotton, P.; Leifert, H.; Średnicka-Tober, D.; et al. Effects of Climatic Conditions and Agronomic Practices on Health, Tuber Yield, and Mineral Composition of Two Contrasting Potato Varieties Developed for High and Low Input Production Systems. Agronomy 2025, 15, 89. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy15010089

AMA Style

Hasanaliyeva G, Giannakopoulou O, Wang J, Barański M, Sufar EK, Knutt D, Gilroy J, Shotton P, Leifert H, Średnicka-Tober D, et al. Effects of Climatic Conditions and Agronomic Practices on Health, Tuber Yield, and Mineral Composition of Two Contrasting Potato Varieties Developed for High and Low Input Production Systems. Agronomy. 2025; 15(1):89. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy15010089

Chicago/Turabian Style

Hasanaliyeva, Gultekin, Ourania Giannakopoulou, Juan Wang, Marcin Barański, Enas Khalid Sufar, Daryl Knutt, Jenny Gilroy, Peter Shotton, Halima Leifert, Dominika Średnicka-Tober, and et al. 2025. "Effects of Climatic Conditions and Agronomic Practices on Health, Tuber Yield, and Mineral Composition of Two Contrasting Potato Varieties Developed for High and Low Input Production Systems" Agronomy 15, no. 1: 89. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy15010089

APA Style

Hasanaliyeva, G., Giannakopoulou, O., Wang, J., Barański, M., Sufar, E. K., Knutt, D., Gilroy, J., Shotton, P., Leifert, H., Średnicka-Tober, D., Cakmak, I., Ozturk, L., Zhao, B., Iversen, P. O., Volakakis, N., Bilsborrow, P., Leifert, C., & Rempelos, L. (2025). Effects of Climatic Conditions and Agronomic Practices on Health, Tuber Yield, and Mineral Composition of Two Contrasting Potato Varieties Developed for High and Low Input Production Systems. Agronomy, 15(1), 89. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy15010089

Note that from the first issue of 2016, this journal uses article numbers instead of page numbers. See further details here.

Article Menu