1 Title:

2 Effect of different methods of boron application on the yield and quality of potato (Solanum
3 Tuberosum L.)
4 Authors:
5 Muhammad Tariq*,1, Bilal Ahmad1, Mukhtiar Ali2, Ishaq Ahmad Mian1, Ikram Ullah1,
6 Shadman Khan1, Khadim Dawar1, Khair Ullah1
1
7 Department of Soil and Environmental Sciences, University of Agriculture Peshawar
8 (25000), Khyber PakhtunKhwa, Pakistan. (drtariqssc@yahoo.com, bilalahmad@aup.edu.pk,
9 ishaqmian@aup.edu.pk, ikram27@aup.edu.pk, shadmankhan@aup.edu.pk,
10 khadimdawar@yahoo.com, khair.ses222@gmail.com).
2
11 Department of Soil Science, Nuclear Institute for Food and Agriculture Peshawar (NIFA),
12 Khyber PakhtunKhwa, Pakistan (mukhtiaraliswabi@yahoo.com).
13 Corresponding Author: Muhammad Tariq, Email: drtariqssc@yahoo.com
14

1
15 Abstract
16 Boron deficiency is a widespread problem in Pakistan that effect yield and quality of potato
17 but is often ignored by the growers. A field experiment was conducted to study the effect of
18 different methods of boron application on the yield and quality of potato during spring, 2018
19 at Nuclear Institute for Food and Agriculture (NIFA) Peshawar Pakistan. The experiment was
20 carried out in randomized complete block design, having three replications. Boron
21 application methods such as foliar spray, fertigation, soil dressing and control were studied.
22 Cut potato variety Racco having buds were sown on ridges. All the important qualitative and
23 quantitative parameters were studied during experiment. Objectives of the study to test the
24 effect of applied boron through foliar, soil and fertigation methods on yield and quality of
25 potato crop. The results revealed that foliar spray of boron at the rate of 0.5 kg ha-1 had
26 significantly increased the agronomic traits such as plant height, tuber plant -1, tuber volume
27 and enhanced the quality in terms of vitamin C, starch content of potato as compared to other
28 methods of boron application. These findings also reflect the superiority of foliar application
29 of boron at the rate of 0.5 kg ha-1 increased its total uptake by potato crop. Moreover, the
30 efficient uptake of boron had ultimately improved the boron use efficiency through foliar
31 spray method of boron application. The correlation analysis indicated that boron
32 concentration in tubers with vitamin C and starch content had resulted a strong relationship
33 with one another. In the present study boron application methods were found, foliar
34 spray>fertigation>soil dressing in terms of effectiveness and it is concluded that for optimum
35 production and good quality of potato tuber, boron should be applied through foliar spray at
36 the rate of 0.5 kg B ha-1 in agro-climatic conditions of Peshawar area of Pakistan.
37
38 Keywords: Application methods, Boron use efficiency, Boron uptake, Fertigation, Foliar
39 spray.
40

2
41 1 Introduction
42 Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) is an important cash crop in the world and is used in many
43 commercial food products such as french fries, chips and starches, besides use in industries it
44 is a good source of carbohydrates, and vitamins (Awad et al., 2010). In Pakistan it is
45 consumed domestically and commercially as an essential vegetable crop. Because of the
46 favorable environmental conditions and different altitudes potato crop is widely grown in
47 northern hilly areas and plains of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, during autumn, spring and
48 summer seasons. These regions include areas of upper Swat, Kalaam, Shangla, Bahrain,
49 Balakot, Abbotabad, Kaghan, Naran, Dera Ismail Khan and Peshawar valley. Potato growth
50 and productivity is severely influenced by a biotic stresses that is nutrient and water
51 deficiency, high temperature, strong wind, and exposure to UV radiation and imbalance
52 fertilizers application. Potato crop has higher nutrient requirements because of their bulk
53 yield. The judicious use of fertilizers and proper placement method is the best approach for
54 enhancing potato productivity (Bari et al., 2001)
55 Boron is an essential plant nutrient required by plants in small quantities for their normal
56 growth and optimum productivity (Mahler and McDole, 2009; Brown et al., 2002). It is
57 essential for plant water regulation, cell wall synthesis, absorption of ions both cation and
58 anion, pollen viability, and metabolism of carbohydrates (Oyinlola, 2007). It also helps in the
59 transportation of sugar, cell division and development, auxin formation, pollination, seed and
60 fruits development, protein formation and nodule formation in leguminous crop (Brdar,
61 2020). The deficiency of boron occurs in soil condition over a large range but more
62 pronounced in light soils, having low organic matter and high pH (Mengel and Kirkby,
63 2001). Beneficial effects of boron application to soil have been reported by several
64 researchers. Bari et al. (2001) obtained maximum fresh weight, tuber number, dry matter
65 content and potato tuber yield with incorporation of 1.1 kg B ha-1 in the soil. Soil with higher
66 pH lowered boron availability. Likewise, its deficiency also observed with higher incidence
67 of rainfall and in sandy soils (Davis et al., 2003). The lower organic matter in soil and high
68 pH, necessitate the exogenous application of boron to the soil can increased tuber production
69 (El-Dessouky et al., 2013). Boron is slowly released from soil because it is tied up by soil
70 organic matter that become available with the decomposition of manure, a part of which is
71 leached down the root zone (Öztürk et al., 2015).
72 Foliar application of boron is an effective approach for fulfilling boron requirement due to
73 better absorption through leaves, that ultimately increased production (Asad et al., 2003;
74 Tariq and Mott, 2006). Foliar application of boron is advantageous over soil application
3
 75 (Rimar et al., 1996). Which include more effectiveness and rapid plant response. Usually
76 micronutrients are applied through foliar spray for correcting its deficiencies and improving
77 fruit quality. Nutrients are rapidly available to the plants by the foliar spray than conventional
78 fertilization. Foliar application of nutrients is 90% more efficient than soil application. In
79 sandy loam soil, foliar application are upto 20% more efficient in comparison to soil applied
80 fertilizer (Ling and Silberbush, 2002; Phillips, 2004). Supplying boron in the irrigation water
81 is advantageous over broadcast application to soil. Some of these benefits are uniform
82 distribution, timely available, reduced environmental pollution, lesser soil compaction and
83 plant damage owing to mechanical application to soil (Siddiqui et al., 2009). Mismanagement
84 of nutrients can lead to soil and water contamination and degraded soil. However, fertigation
85 serve best in this regard by improving nutrient use efficiency and ensure more availability of
86 nutrients (Hou et al., 2007).
87 The supplying mechanism of boron to plant roots is mainly through mass flow; while its
88 allocation in plants is govern by the transpiration stream through the xylem. In plants boron is
89 immobile, and thus its accessibility is indispensible at all stages of growth, especially during
90 fruit/seed development stage. Therefore, this study will carry out to test the effect of
91 applied boron through foliar, soil and fertigation methods on yield and quality of potato
92 crop at Nuclear Institute for Food and Agriculture Tarnab, Peshawar-Pakistan to see which
93 one application method is more effective in term of yield, quality and boron uptake by plants.
94 2 Materials and methods
95 2.1 Experimental layout and sowing
96 The experiment entitled effect of different methods of boron application on the yield and
97 quality of potato was carried out at Nuclear Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), at
98 Peshawar-Pakistan in spring 2018. The experiment was carried out in randomized complete
99 block design with three replications. Different methods of boron application such as soil
100 dressing, foliar and fertigation were studied during the experiment. Potato variety Racco as a
101 test crop was sown on 18th. February, 2018. The treatments were consisted of 1 kg B ha-1
102 applied to soil, where as foliar boron was applied in 0.5 kg B ha-1 and in fertigation boron was
103 applied at the rate of 1kg B ha-1. For soil dressing, borax was mixed with the soil and applied
104 as side dressing to the respective treatment plots after the sowing of seed potato. For foliar
105 spray, the spray solution was prepared from commercial borax fertilizer available in the
106 market. Fertigation was done by calculating amount of borax and was dissolved in water. The
107 solution quantity was adjusted so as to go into irrigation water uniformly in a whole treatment
108 plot-1. The nutrient was estimated on elemental basis of boron. The volume of water was
4
109 estimated in L ha-1 by assuming the average volume of water spent to wet completely the all
110 plants in treatment plot. A control treatment was taken with no boron fertilizer for
111 comparison. Recommended dose of NPK was applied to each treatment plot at the ratio of
112 220:120:60 kg ha-1. All the P2O5 and K2O was applied at the time of seedbed preparation,
113 while N was applied in two splits one at sowing time and second dose at flowering stage of
114 the crop, from di-ammonium phosphate, potassium sulphate and urea, respectively. Boron
115 fertigation was done two times with irrigation. Boron application as foliar spray was applied
116 two times during experiment, one at vegetative stage and the other at tuber formation stage of
117 the crop. The amount of nitrogen applied from di-ammonium phosphate was compensated by
118 reducing the amount of urea required. The plot size was kept 3 x 5 m with 6 rows in each
119 treatment plot 80 cm apart from each other. All other agronomic practices like irrigation,
120 weeding were practiced uniformly in each treatment plot during growth season.
121 2.2.1 Estimation of yield and yield traits
122 Plant height was recorded after 70 days of sowing, randomly 5 plants were selected from
123 each treatment plot. Plant height was measured with the help of meter rod from base to the tip
124 of plant and their average was calculated in cm. The gross yields of haulm plot-1 were
125 recorded after harvesting and were expressed in kilogram. Finally, the yield was converted to
126 t ha-1 on dry basis. At harvesting stage, number of tuber plant-1 were recorded by counting the
127 tuber number of randomly 5 selected plants in each treatment plot for each replication and
128 their average was calculated. The volume of three randomly selected potatoes was measured
129 by the help of water displacement method. The 700 mL volume of water was taken in the
130 1000 mL graduated beaker. The selected potatoes were immersed in the known volume of
131 water and the increase in volume was noted (Hughes, 2005). The change in volume was
132 considered as the volume of selected potato as calculated by the following formula:

133

134 2.2.2 Moisture loss

135 The sample of potatoes were taken from every treatment plot and weighed on first week with
136 the help of digital balance and weight was noted in grams. On first day of second week
137 sample of potatoes were weight again and the loss of weight in gram was recorded. This
138 process was repeated up to four times. The weight loss came in gram indicated the moisture
139 loss of potato. Moisture loss was found with the help of following formula.

5
140

141 2.3 Quality attributes

142 2.3.1 Vitamin C (mg/100g)
143 Vitamin C in the samples was measured by the method as mentioned in (AOAC, 2000). The
144 potato tuber was washed and cut into small pieces. Then took 10 g sample with digital
145 balance, make the volume up to 150 mL of 0.4% oxalic acid with graduated cylinder. Then
146 through blending process mix the sample with the help of juicer for about one minute. In
147 conical flask a 10 mL sample (aliquot) was taken and titrated against the dye solution till the
148 appearance of light pinkish color. A single reading was taken for each sample. A blank
149 titration was also run along with test sample. Ascorbic acid content was calculated as:-

150
151 2.3.2 Starch determination
152 The determination of the starch content of the sample was measured by the method of
153 Buzarbarua (2000). 0.5g sample was weighed accurately and homogenized with hot 80%
154 ethanol. The supernatant was decanted carefully after the mixture was centrifuged. The
155 residues again washed with additional 80% ethanol to take out all traces of sugar. The
156 residues were dried over water bath to remove the traces of ethanol. The residues was added
157 with 0.5 mL distilled water and 6.5 mL of 52% perchloric acid. The tube was placed on water
158 bath at 22-25˚C for 15-20 minutes. The mixture centrifuged and the supernatant was
159 collected. The extraction was repeated using fresh perchloric acid and the supernatant was
160 collected and combined with the supernatant from the previous extraction. The combined
161 extract was diluted to 100 mL. An aliquot (0.1 mL) of the supernatant was taken in a test tube
162 and diluted to 1 mL with distilled water. Anthrone reagent (4 mL) was added to test tube and
163 covered the tube with a marble and heated for 8 minutes in a boiling water bath. The mixture
164 was then cooled and the optical density was measured at 630 nm by spectrophotometer. The
165 standard calibration curve was obtained by plotting the absorbance against the different
166 concentration of glucose. The glucose content of the sample was determined from the
167 standard curve. Amount of starch was calculated by multiplying the glucose equivalent with
168 0.90.

169

170

6
171 (On hydrolysis one gram starch yield approximately 0.9g of glucose)
172 2.4 Quantitative traits
173 2.4.1 Boron concentration in plant
174 For determining the boron concentration, representative plants from each treatment plot were
175 collected at flowering stage of crop. The leaves, stem and tuber were washed with distilled
176 water and were ashed in furnace at 550 C0 then dissolved in 0.5 M HCl and filtered through
177 Whatman-42 filter paper (Issac and Kerber, 1971). The collected extract was subjected to
178 Azomethine-H color development Bingham (1982) reading was taken on spectrophotometer
179 at 420 nm.
180 2.4.2 Boron use efficiency (BUE)
181 The nutrient use efficiency was calculated according the procedure of (Crawswell, 1987).

182

183 2.4.3 Boron uptake by plants

184 For determining the boron uptake, representative plants from each treatment plot were
185 collected and brought to the laboratory. The biological yield was measured on dry basis on
186 digital balance. Further for determining the boron concentration in plants, samples were
187 ashed in furnace at 550 C0 and reading was taken on spectrophotometer at 420 nm.

188 The following formula is used for obtaining boron uptake by plants.

189

190 2.4.4 Statistical analysis

191 The field and laboratory data was subjected to analysis of variance using ANOVA -test of
192 significance protocol in STATIX 8.1 program. Means was separated by LSD-test of
193 significance when they showed significant differences. In addition, multiple regression
194 analysis was performed between the yield, quality and boron concentration in various plant
195 parts of potato crop (Steel and Torrie, 1997).
196

7
197 3 Results
198 3.1 Physico-chemical properties of the experimental soil
199 The physico-chemical properties of the experimental site soil was silt loam in texture,
200 alkaline in reaction, non-saline (pH 8.5, E.C 0.62 dSm-1) and calcareous in nature (13.3%),
201 moderate in organic matter (1.05%) and deficient in available boron (0.24 mg kg-1)
202 (Sillanpaa, 1972).
203 3.2 Plant height (cm)
204 Data on plant height showed that boron application had significantly affected the plant height
205 of potato (Table 1). Mean table showed that plots treated with foliar application had resulted
206 in taller plants followed by fertigation and then soil dressed boron. Whereas, the lower plant
207 height was observed in control plot.
208 3.2.1 Biological yield (kg ha-1)
209 Data on biological yield of potato in response to different methods of applied boron are
210 shown in the (Table 1). Data analysis showed that biological yield was significantly affected
211 by boron application. From these results it is clear that slightly higher biological yield was
212 obtained from those plots receiving foliar spray than boron fertigation followed by soil
213 dressing, while lower was observed in control.
214 3.2.2 Number of tubers plant-1
215 Data showed that boron application significantly affected the number of tubers plant-1 (Table
216 1). Mean values indicated that foliar application gives maximum number of tuber plant-1
217 followed by boron fertigation which was not statistically different from boron applied
218 through soil application. The minimum number of tubers plant-1 was observed in control
219 plots.
220 3.2.3 Tuber volume
221 Statistical analysis of the data showed that different boron application methods significantly
222 increased the size (volume) of the tubers (Table 1). Results indicate that foliar application
223 gives the maximum size of potato followed by boron applied through fertigation and soil
224 application the latter two methods are not statistically different from one another. While
225 boron in control gave the lower size of potato tuber.
226 3.3 Vitamin C
227 Results showed that boron application had significantly influenced the vitamin C content of
228 potato tubers (Table 2). Maximum vitamin C content was obtained from the boron
229 application through foliar spray which was not statistically different from the boron applied

8
230 through fertigation. Whereas, the minimum vitamin C were observed from the control where
231 no boron was applied and was comparable to boron applied through soil application.
232 3.3.1 Starch content
233 Results regarding starch content of potato tubers through different boron application methods
234 significantly influenced the starch content in potato tubers (Table 2). The maximum value of
235 starch content in tubers was obtained from foliar application followed by boron fertigation
236 and then soil application of boron. Whereas, the minimum starch content observed in control.
237 3.4 Moisture loss

238 Results indicate that application of boron by any application method significantly affect the
239 moiture of potato tubers (Table 2). Means data showed that loss of weight in grams per week
240 was maximum in control plot followed by boron applied through soil application which is
241 statistically at par to one another (Figure 2). Loss in weight of the tuber in grams per week in
242 fertigation and foliar application of boron are statistically same. However, loss of weight in
243 fertigation of boron is slightly maximum than boron applied through foliar application.

244 3.4.1 Boron use efficiency

245 Nutrient use efficiency was calculated by the method of (Carsewell, 1987) Figure 3. Results
246 show among the different methods of boron application, foliar spray gave maximum 25.62%
247 boron recovery than boron applied through fertigation and soil dressing (Table 2).
248 3.4.2 Boron concentration in leaves
249 Results revealed that boron concentration in leaves were significantly influenced by boron
250 application methods (Table 3). Maximum boron concentration was observed from plots
251 having foliar application of boron had resulted in maximum boron concentration followed by
252 boron applied through fertigation which is statistically similar with one another. Boron
253 applied through fertigation results considerably more concentration followed by soil and
254 control plot, which resulted minimum concentration of boron.
255 3.4.3 Boron concentration in stem
256 Results regarding the concentration of boron in stem (Table 3) show that boron application
257 had greatly increased the concentration of boron in stem as compared to control plot.
258 However, there is no significant difference among foliar application and fertigation but foliar
259 application was statistically different from soil applied boron. Foliar application gives the
260 maximum value of boron concentration in stem followed by fertigation and then soil
261 application while in control the lower value of boron concentration was observed.

9
262 3.4.4 Boron concentration in tubers
263 Data presented in reveals that boron application significantly affected boron concentration in
264 potato tubers (Table 3). Boron applied through foliar has significantly increased the boron
265 concentration in tubers followed by fertigation as well as soil application. Analysis of the
266 data clearly indicated that there is non-significant difference among boron applied through
267 soil and fertigation, but boron fertigation gives slightly high value to that of soil application.
268 Foliar application of boron resulted in maximum concentration, while lower concentration
269 recorded in control plot.

270 3.4.5 Boron uptake by plants

271 Analysis of the data indicated that maximum uptake of boron occurred where boron was
272 applied as foliar spray, followed by fertigation and soil application (Table 3). Different
273 methods of applied boron significantly increased the total uptake of boron by plants
274 compared to control. The latter two methods were found statistically at par to one another.
275 While minimum occurred in control.

276

10
277 4 Discussion
278 Plant height is an important morphological attribute which reflects the growth behavior of a
279 crop. Besides genetic characteristics, soil nutrient status, seed vigor and environmental
280 conditions also play vital role in determining the plant height. The plant height was
281 significantly affected by boron application methods. Foliar spray of boron had resulted in
282 taller plants than fertigation and soil applied boron. This increase in plant height might be
283 attributed to association of boron with development of cell wall and cell differentiation that
284 help to roots and shoots growth of plants (Zewide and Tana, 2019; Shehzad and Maqsood,
285 2015; Patil et al., 2008) and increased the availability of NPK which improved the nutrition of
286 potato plants and thus increased the plant height. These findings are in line with the recent
287 work of (Diriba and Tilaye-Batu, 2020; Jafari-Jood et al., 2013; Rab and Haq, 2012) who
288 stated that foliar application of boron improved plant height of potato plants. These results
289 are in mutual agreement to the findings of (Arunkumar and Srinivasa 2018; Soomro et al.,
290 2011) who investigated that boron foliar spray in split doses to annual crops in term of
291 vegetative growth were found superior to the soil dressing of boron.
292 Biological yield indicated the overall vegetative growth behavior of the crop during the given
293 period of time. It is the combination of yield and biomass yield and is an indirect index of
294 photosynthetic machinery. Foliar application of boron was found superior in term of
295 producing biological yield than rest of the treatments. This higher biological yield could be
296 attributed to plant height which is an important contributing factor to biomass production
297 (Kamau et al., 2019; Achieng et al., 2010). The present results suggest that the above ground
298 portion of the potato crop was considerably increased due to foliar spray than other methods
299 of boron placement (Hajduk et al., 2017); Boron was effectively absorbed by leaves, and
300 hence increased fresh biomass of potato crop (Klikocka, 2020). These findings in contrast to
301 recent work of (Alkharpotly et al., 2018; Akter, 2013) who urged that no significant
302 difference was observed between foliar and soil applied boron on biological yield of potato
303 tuber.
304 Number of tubers plant-1 is known as a key and major yield determining component of potato
305 crop and contributes substantially towards the final tuber yield. Setting of tubers is greatly
306 influenced by the rapid development and growth of leaves at flowering. It is evident from the
307 above results that foliar spray of boron increase number of tubers plant-1 which might be due
308 to the fact that accessibility of boron by foliar feeding and the important role of boron on
309 sugar transport, increasing respiration rate and cell integrity, increasing uptake of some
310 nutrients and metabolic activities (Singh et al., 2017; Ali et al., 2013). (Haleema et al., 2018;
11
311 Shnain et al. 2014) documented that foliar spray of boron increases the number of fruits in
312 tomato. Our results are in accordance with recent work of (Modi et al., 2019; Suganiya and
313 Kumuthini, 2015; Al-Gburi et al., 2019) who observed maximum number of fruits plant-1 due
314 to foliar application of 150 mg B L-1 than other treatment plots, because foliar spray of boron
315 at the rate of 150 mg B L-1increased number of fruits plant-1 of Brinjal crop.
316 Comparing the effect of application methods, foliar application of boron had increased the
317 size of potato tubers. This might be due to the fact that better mineral utilization of plants
318 improved fruit weight and size also photosynthetic efficiency that leads to maximum
319 diversion of food stuffs to fruits. These results are supported by the work of (Badini et al.,
320 2019; Bajapai and Chauhan, 2001) who investigated that foliar application of micronutrients
321 increased the Okra and fruits size and weight. Moreover, (Sarkar et al., 2007) also observed
322 that split application of boron through foliar spray increased the seed size of mustard, wheat
323 and potato crop.
324 Boron played an important role in the growth and development of new cells in the plant
325 meristem, thus improve the fruit quality and fruit set (da Silva et al., 2018). Boron has also a
326 greater role in the translocation of carbohydrates from leaves to other parts of the plants,
327 greater ascorbic acid concentration may have been translocated to the tubers (Singh et al.,
328 2019). During the growth of potato plants, use of boron through foliar spray significantly
329 increased the ascorbic acid concentration and made the tuber more nutritious and improved
330 the overall tuber quality (Tavallali et al., 2018; Mondy and Munshi, 1993). Besides the
331 potato; boron also improved the quality of other crops like (Khatun et al., 2020; Shnain et al.,
332 2014) reported maximum ascorbic acid (Vitamin C) content in tomato (32.57 mg/100g) with
333 the foliar application of 1.25 g/L B. In this study the vitamin C was correlated with boron
334 concentration in tuber (Figure 1a) which clearly indicate that as the boron concentration in
335 tuber increase, the vitamin C is linearly increases and showed close relationship (r2=0.99)
336 with each other.
337 Our findings of moisture loss are in accordance with the work of (Songkhum et al., 2018;
338 Davis et al., 2003) who resulted that boron applied through foliar or through drip irrigation
339 increase the shelf life of tomato crop which are statistically similar to each other. The above
340 results indicate that in foliar application the loss in weight was low compare to control plot
341 (Islam et al., 2018), suggested that the potato shelf life was increased due to application of
342 boron through foliar. These results are supported by the recent work of (Das et al., 2020;
343 Khatun et al., 2019; Shnain et al., 2014) who observed that maximum shelf life of tomato
344 fruit was due to foliar application of boron at the rate of 1.25 g L-1. The present results also
12
345 suggest that boron applied through any method reduced the loss of water from potato tubers,
346 because boron helps to maintain membrane stability (Gupta and Solanki, 2013; Yamouchi et
347 al., 1986) and perhaps boron also created firmness in the potato tubers (Harris and Lavanya,
348 2016; Smit and Combrink, 2004; (Choi et al., 2015; Turhan, 2020). In this study the moisture
349 loss of potato tuber was correlated with boron concentration in tuber (Figure 2). Which
350 clearly indicate that as the boron concentration in tuber increases, the loss of moisture in
351 tuber is linearly decreases and showed close relationship (r2=0.99) with each other, indicating
352 boron applied by various methods reduced the moisture losses of potato tuber as compared to
353 control (where no boron was applied).
354 The increase in starch content of tubers might be attributed to the importance of
355 micronutrients in carbohydrates metabolism, increasing the intensity of photosynthesis and
356 the activity of oxidation-reduction enzymes as mentioned by (Singh et al., 2018; Bari et al.,
357 2001). These results are in line with the recent work of (Miyu et al., 2019; El-Dissoky and
358 Abdel-Kadar 2013) who reported that starch content increased by 25.83% and 15.01% in two
359 locations, respectively by the application of boron over control and furthermore, (Eggadi et
360 al., 2019; El-Banna and Abd El-Salsm, 2005) described that foliar application of boron
361 enhances quality of potato tuber like starch and vitamin C. Similar findings were also
362 reported by (El-Hoseiny et al., 2020; Hatami et al., 2018; Manas et al., 2014) who noticed
363 that starch content exerted significant influence to foliar application of humic acid, zinc and
364 boron either alone or in combined treatment on pungent pepper. In the present study the
365 starch content was regressed with boron concentration in tuber (Figure 1b). The results
366 clearly indicate that as the boron concentration in tuber increase, the starch content is linearly
367 increases and showed close relationship (r2=0.92) with each other.
368 The results of higher boron concentration in leaves is due to the fact that foliarly applied
369 boron efficiently enhanced boron concentration, while boron applied through soil mostly
370 remained in the roots and a little was translocated to the upper parts of plants. These results
371 are accord with previous work of (Ahmad et al., 2020; Xie et al., 1992; Rashid et al., 2007)
372 who documented that foliar application of boron enhances leaf boron content and improved
373 transportation of boron to assorted growing parts. Furthermore, the latter authors observed
374 that elevated boron concentration in leaves with foliar feeding over soil application. Boron
375 concentration in stem was considerably influenced with application of boron. These results
376 are in agreement with (Miyu et al., 2019; Eggadi et al., 2019; El-Dissoky and Abdel-Kadar,
377 2013) who noticed that foliar spray of boron increased the concentration of boron in stem of
378 potato from 17.89 µg g-1. The results are also related to boron concentration are in accordance
13
379 with (Arunkumar and Srinivasa, 2018; Soomro et al., 2011) who found that maximum
380 concentration of boron in maize straw at 0.5% foliar spray, applied at early, mid and late
381 whorl stages an increase of 18.7% over control followed by soil application of boron.
382 Generally, application of boron through foliar spray have long been known to be an effective
383 means of increasing boron concentration of the reproductive organs resulting in higher crop
384 yield (Beyzi et al., 2019; Johnson et al., 1955; Tariq et al., 2010). These results are also in
385 accordance with (Rani et al., 2019; Sarkar et al., 2007) who observed that foliar spray of
386 boron increased the boron concentration by 80% in potato tuber over the control plot. Boron
387 use efficiency was considerably higher with foliar application than rest of the treatments.
388 These findings suggest that foliar spray of boron is more effective in terms of maximum
389 yield, good quality and nutrient uptake by potato crop under the conditions of the experiment.
390 These results are in line with previous work of (Beyzi et al., 2019; Tariq et al., 2010).

391 Boron applied through foliar sprays have long been known to be an effective means of
392 enhancing the uptake of boron concentration in the aerial and reproductive organs producing
393 higher crop yield (Arunkumar and Srinivasa, 2018; Beyzi et al., 2019; Johnson et al., 1995)
394 and immobility with in plants, once accumulated does not retranslocated (Sarafi et al., 2018;
395 Tariq and Mott, 2006). These findings are also in accordance with the previous work of (Rani
396 et al., 2019; Sarkar et al., 2007) who noticed that boron fertilization through foliar spray in
397 potato increase overall boron uptake 10-fold or more than that by mustard or wheat because
398 of its higher biomass yield. However, our findings are opposed to the recent work of Akhter
399 (2013) who claimed that no significant effect of boron either soil or foliar application on the
400 total uptake of boron by potato plants. The reason between the contradiction between the
401 Akhter (2013) findings and present results mainly seems to be due to the application of boron
402 along with zinc in Akhter’s experiment. Because zinc create protective mechanism against
403 boron (Tariq et al., 2005).

404 5 Conclusion
405 It is concluded from the trial that yield, qualitative and quantitative traits like vitamin C,
406 starch content, boron concentration in leaves, stem, tuber and boron use efficiency of potato
407 were significantly enhanced with application of boron through foliar spray at the rate of 0.5
408 kg B ha-1 as compare to other application methods. In the present study the boron application
409 methods were found, foliar spray > fertigation > soil dressing in terms of effectiveness.
410 Generally boron should be used as foliar spray at the rate of (0.5 kg ha-1) to potato crop as

14
411 compared to other application methods like fertigation and soil dressing under the prevailing
412 conditions of Peshawar valley, Pakistan.
413
414 Acknowledgments
415 We are very thankful to the Nuclear Institute for Food and Agriculture (NIFA)
416 Peshawar, Pakistan for their support and providing lab and field space for our experiment.
417

15
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636

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637 Tables
638 Table 1: Effect of different application methods of boron on plant height (cm), number
639 of tubers, biological yield (kg ha-1) and tuber volume of potato crop.
Mean
Application Number of Tuber
B (kg ha-1) Plant height Biological
Methods tuber volume
(cm) -1
yield (kg ha-1)
(plant ) (cm3)
Control 0 48.92 b 5.00 c 315.3 81.11 c
Foliar 0.5 56.67 a 7.06 a 391.0 98.33 a
Fertigation 1 55.08 a 6.11 b 388.7 90.22 b
Soil 1 52.00 ab 5.66 bc 332.3 88.88 b
LSD (P<0.05) 9.62 1.17 109.35 10.86
CV (%) 5.74 5.67 8.85 3.50
640 Means followed by similar letter's within the same column are statistically similar using LSD
641 P(<0.05)
642
643 Table 2: Effects of different application methods of boron on starch content, vitamin C
644 and boron use efficiency of potato crop.
Mean
Application
B (kg ha-1) Starch content Vitamin C of BUE Moisture
methods loss
of tuber (mg g-1) tuber (mg 100g-1) (%)
(%)
Control 0 448.30 b 15.00 c - 34.40 a
Foliar 0.5 656.53 a 17.50 a 25.62 21.65 c
Fertigation 1 600.48 a 16.68 ab 6.73 25.18 c
Soil 1 570.27 a 15.92 bc 4.11 29.88 b
LSD (P<0.05) 178.53 2.24 7.76
CV (%) 9.07 3.97 8.07
645 Means followed by similar letter’s within the same column are statistically similar using LSD
646 P(0.05)
647

648 Table 3: Effects of different application methods of boron on concentration in leaves,

649 stem and in tuber of potato crop.

25
 Mean
Application -1
B (kg ha ) B conc. in B conc. B conc. B uptake
methods (g ha-1)
leaves in stem in tuber
Control 0 46.67 b 45.00 c 30.00 c 103.03c
Foliar 0.5 75.00 a 62.67 a 46.67 a 231.13a
Fertigation 1 65.00 ab 55.56 ab 38.33 b 170.33b
Soil 1 55.00 b 51.42 bc 36.67 b 144.13b
LSD (P<0.05) 32.15 12.19 9.56 54.67
CV (%) 15.38 6.56 7.29 3.50
650 Means followed by similar letter’s within the same column are statistically similar using LSD
651 P(0.05)
652

653

26
654 Figures
655

656

657

658

659

660

661

662

663

664

665

666 (a)
667 Figure 1(a): Relationship of (a) vitamin C (mg 100g-1) and B concentration in potato tuber.
668

669

670

671

672

673

674

675

676

677

678

679

680 (b)
681 Figure 1(b): Relationship of (b) Starch concentration (mg g-1) and B concentration in
682 potato tuber.
683

684

27
685

686

687

688

689

690

691

692

693

694

695

696 Figure 2: Relationship between moisture loss and boron concentration in potato tuber.
697
698

699

700

701

702

703

704

705

706

707

708 Figure 3: Comparative effect of different methods of boron application on the boron use
709 efficiency of potato crop.
710

28