Abstract
Potatoes (Solanum tuberosum) are an economically valuable crop that entails significant soil disturbance in production. Disease and other quality characteristics are important components of potato price determination and can be influenced by practices meant to improve soil health. We examine whether several such practices (lengthened potato rotations, conventional fumigation, mustard biofumigation, and manure application) are associated with changes in potato quality. Using trial data from four locations in the midwestern and Pacific northwestern regions of the United States, we perform a series of pairwise comparisons tests, group analyses, and regressions to evaluate disease-related and other quality differences across treatments with varying soil health practices. We find that extending rotation length is associated with quality benefits that could contribute to greater economic returns. We generally do not find evidence that any of the practices contribute to declines in tuber quality.The findings and conclusions in this publication are those of the authors and should not be construed to represent any official USDA or U.S. Government determination or policy.