Adaptability and stability of potato samples in the forest-steppe conditions of the Northern Caucasus

Abstract

This work aimed to study the response of 10 potato varieties to changes in environmental conditions during the 2018-2020 growing season in the forest-steppe zone of the Republic of North Ossetia-Alania. Ecological adaptability, stability, and genetic flexibility were evaluated for 8 varieties and 2 hybrids of the North Caucasian Research Institute of Mountain and Piedmont Agriculture (SKNIIGPSKh) breeding. Analysis of variance revealed that the proportion of the influence of genotype (factor-variety) on the yield of the studied samples for three years of observation was 40%. The effect of weather conditions on the variability of potato productivity during the years of research was 42% and the effect of other factors was 18%. Complex evaluation of flexibility, stability, genetic flexibility was carried out according to the methods of S.A. Eberhart and W.A. Russell, A.A. Rosielle and J. Hamblin, V.V. Khangildin and N.A. Litvinenko. The calculated indices of flexibility, stability, homeostability, and genetic flexibility allowed us to identify a group of intensive varieties responding with increased yield under optimal conditions: Udacha, El Mundo, Hybrid 0.4.560/4. The second group included extensive varieties: Sambo, Primabel, hybrid 04.573/1. The hybrid 04.573/1 selected by SKNIIGPSKh is adapted to forest-steppe conditions, resistant to stress (Ymin-Ymax)=8, and shows genetic flexibility (Ymax+Ymin)/2=31.2. In the hot year of 2020, it gave the yield higher than all the studied samples (27.7t/ha). Hybrids o4.560/4 and 04/573/1 are being prepared for state variety testing.