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May 27, 2026Keywords:
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Main Article Content
Effects of integrated cropping strategies on soil chemical properties and biological diversity in Solanum tuberosum production
Abstract
Solanum tuberosum (potato) is one of the most important food crops in Kenya, but its productivity is below average due to constraints associated with biotic and abiotic factors. The study aims to determine the effect of integrated cropping strategies for improved soil health and biological diversity in Potato Production. Field experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of integrated cropping strategies viz. organic soil amendments, intercropping and biological control agents on soil health, and surface and rhizosphere biological diversity in potato production from May - August 2022. Soil health parameters ranged as follows: pH (6.5–6.7), nitrogen (0.2–0.4%), potassium (10–32 mg/kg), organic carbon (1.8–5.4%), and exchangeable potassium (0.18–0.23 meq/100g). Treatments T6 and T7 showed the most improvement across these indicators. The distribution of arthropod pests under Treatment T5 (potato planted alone) showed that whiteflies were the most prevalent (31.6%), followed by spider mites (26.5%), aphids (26.1%), and Tuta absoluta (7.9%). In the same treatment, the rhizosphere biological diversity included nematode genera such as Tylenchus, Aphelenchus, Filenchus, Meloidogyne, and potato cyst nematodes. The maximum initial late blight disease severity was observed on treatment Solanum tuberosum alone with a mean value of 32.93%. The highest bacterial wilt disease severity was recorded in treatment Solanum alone (79.73%), followed by Solanum + Common beans+ organic fertilizer (74.33%), and Solanum + Trichoderma asperellum + Organic fertilizer (65.90%). The lowest bacterial wilt severity was observed in Solanum with common bean (60.33%) and followed by treatment Solanum + banana fibre, and Solanum + organic fertilizer (62.60 % and 63.73%, respectively). In contrast, the highest late blight disease incidence was recorded in treatment Solanum + organic fertilizer (80.00%). In conclusion, the present study provides a novel understanding of the effect of integrated cropping strategies on the soil health and above and below ground biodiversity in the production of potato.
