Cultural Practices in Use of True Seeds of Potato and Screening of Tuber-forming Solanum Species Under Hot Climatic Conditions

Abstract

Abstract Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.), the most important dicotyledonous food crop in the world, is grown mostly under temperate climatic conditions and is usually planted vegetatively with tubers (often called “seed” tubers) (12). Use of seed tubers for potato production has many advantages, including ease of planting, vigorous plant growth, uniform tubers, and high tuber yields (27). However, with increased interest in production of potatoes in warm regions, use of seed tubers often becomes costly and has disadvantages (1, 2, 23, 27, 30). Some of the disadvantages of seed tubers in warm or developing regions of the world are: there is a lack of seed tuber certification programs; imported seed tubers are expensive; seed tubers often are contaminated with plant pathogens and other pests; and available potato cultivars often are not adapted to warm regions (2, 18, 19). Consequently, during the past decade, research efforts on adopting true potato seed (TPS) instead of seed tubers for potato production were initiated in many areas of the world (5, 8, 16, 17, 20).