ECONOMIC AND ENERGY COMPONENTS OF POTATO VARIETY CULTIVATION USING PLANT GROWTH REGULATORS AND DIFFERENT PLANTING TIMES

Abstract

At the current stage of potato farming development in Ukraine, the focus on intensifying cultivation technologies with consideration for climate change is highly significant. The use of new-generation growth regulators and optimization of planting times ensures increased yields and improved product quality with minimal economic and energy costs, which is especially relevant in conditions of limited financial resources. To achieve the research objective, which involved the economic and energy assessment of the impact of growth regulators and planting dates on the yield of different potato varieties, field, laboratory, analytical, mathematical and statistical methods were employed. The results obtained in the conditions of Southern Polissia, Ukraine, demonstrated that the highest economic effect was achieved by planting the Radomysl variety between April 13–15 and the Myroslava variety between April 25–27, with tubers treated with the growth regulator Kartoplex. These measures led to the formation of a yield of the Myroslava variety at 41.5 tons per hectare, providing a conditional net profit of UAH 151,356 per hectare of sown area, with a profitability of 68.3% and a cost of UAH 7,822 per ton. For the Radomysl variety, the yield reached 31.6 tons per hectare, with a conditional net profit of UAH 93,556 per hectare, profitability of 40.6%, and a cost of UAH 7,296 per ton. The timing of planting and the use of growth regulators significantly influenced the energy efficiency of growing potato varieties with different maturity groups. The highest energy efficiency coefficient was observed for the variants with the specified planting dates and the growth regulator Kartoplex: 1.83 for the Myroslava variety, and 1.67 for the Radomysl variety.