Most of Brazilian soils have little or no mineral reserve of potassium and, usually low content of organic matter in the soil, the most important source of boron for the plants. In this work we evaluated the yield of sweet potato, cultivar Canadense, in response to the combination of different rates of potassium fertilization and boron fertilization. The research was carried out from August 2007 to January 2008, in Presidente Prudente, São Paulo State, Brazil. The experimental design consisted of randomized blocks in a factorial scheme 4x4, with three repetitions: rates of potassium fertilization (0, 50, 100 and 200 kg ha-1 of K2O), and levels of boron fertilization (0, 1, 2 and 3 kg ha-1 of B), both in side dressing. The treatments were applied 62 days after planting date. The maximum estimated yield was of 27.7 t ha-1, with combination of the rates of 2 kg ha-1 of B allied to the application of 200 kg ha-1 of K2O. The foliar nutrient content of B increased with increasing rates of B and K. 1 and 3 kg ha-1 of B rates did not influence the foliar content of Mg, but with rates of 0 and 2 kg ha-1 of B the Mg foliar content presented quadratic behavior in function of increasing K fertilization.
Ipomoea batatas; marketable yield; nutrient content
