Potato is an important food crop globally, feeding more than 1 billion people (Dahal et al., 2019). Potatoes are one of the most drought sensitive crops attributed to their small and shallow roots. Increasing occurrence of drought due to climate change has caused a significant decline in potato yields (Nasir & Toth, 2022). Silicon (Si) fertilizers have the potential to enhance potato drought tolerance due to their effect on different aspect of plant and soil physical and chemical properties (Schaller et al., 2024).

We conducted a field experiment to determine the effect of Si fertilizers on potato production, soil/plant silicon (Si) and phosphorous (P) content and N₂O emissions under drought stress. The experiment was conducted on 2 soils (sand and clay) with soil moisture as the main plot (Controlled rainfall-CR and Drought-DT) and fertilizers as split plots (Amorphous Silica-ASi, Diatomaceous Earth-DE and no Si control). Soil and plant sampling was conducted at the beginning, middle and end of tuber formation.

The impact of moisture and fertilizer on tuber yields had a similar trend in clay and sand soil. For moisture, CR had higher tuber yields compared to DT while for fertilizer treatments, overall highest tuber yields were recorded in silicon fertilizers compared to control. Plant P and Si content had highest values in CR treatments with Si fertilizers, compared to control in both soils. Regarding soil N₂O emissions, ASi and DE treatments had lower overall cumulative emissions in both soils. Our results indicate that Si fertilizers offer a sustainable solution for increasing potato production while reducing N₂O emissions under drought.