Production of potato microtubers with and without growth regulators

Abstract

Microtubers are of interest as propagules in seed potato production. With the increasing importance of their storability, phytosanitary advantages and ease of transportation, intensive attention is now being given to the production of microtubers. Culture environment and media including the use of growth regulators are the main factors exerting pronounced effects on tuberization. Varying concentrations of cytokinins, auxins and other regulatory substances have been used in culture media [4, 5, 11], while in the method developed at the International Potato Centre (CIP), the antigibberellin, chlorocholine chloride (CCC) together with BAP have been added [10]. A simple method for producing microtubers without growth regulators has been developed at Wye College [3] where all the twelve varieties tested produced microtubers in culture without difficulty [2]. The microtubers produced by the Wye College System have provided satisfactory results on field planting each year since 1984 [1]. The present research was undertaken to investigate the effects of growth regulators and day length and to compare the Wye College and CIP systems.