Potato Production Research Articles

Socioeconomic impact of improved variety of Chinese potato in Tamil Nadu

The socioeconomic impact was based on a farm household survey conducted in Tenkasi and Tirunelveli districts of Tamil Nadu among 200 Chinese potato producers during 2021/2022. A logistic regression model was employed to identify factors determining the adoption of ‘SreeDhara’, and the Inverse Probability Weighted Regression Adjustment (IPWRA) method was used to assess the impact of the adoption of ‘SreeDhara’ on yield and income. The cost of cultivation, gross income, and net income for ‘SreeDhara’ adopters were 7, 37, and 87% higher than for non-adopters. Years of schooling, farm income, access to extension services, and block dummies had significant, positive effects on adopting the variety. The IPWRA results indicated yield and income of ‘SreeDhara’ adopters were higher than non-adopters by 23.65 and 24.99 %, respectively. The most significant constraints to adopting Chinese potatoes were lack of awareness about ‘SreeDhara,’ inaccessibility to credit, and the non-availability of crop insurance. Thus, recognizing its higher nutritional value and potential farm income, institutional support in the form of better extension linkages, credit facilities, and crop insurance to Chinese potato growers needs to be strengthened.

Can rooted apical cuttings complement seed systems to improve availability of quality seed potato in Africa?—The case of Kenya

AbstractLimited availability and access to quality seed is a major challenge faced by the Kenyan potato subsector. Smallholder farmers cultivate the bulk of potato mainly planting seed from informal sources without any quality assurance which contributes to low yields. In recent years, private sector businesses have engaged in certified seed potato production with positive impact on the volumes available, relying on minitubers to multiply in the field over three to four generations. Rooted apical cuttings (RACs) provide a productive alternative starter material that can further boost the Kenyan seed systems. Stokman Rozen Kenya Ltd (SRK) is a private sector business that has embraced this technology in 2017. Also, small‐scale nurseries have recently started the commercial production of cuttings. They both sell RACs mainly to seed growers for further bulking, but ware potato farmers can also produce quality seed on‐farm for their own use from RACs when applying good agricultural practices. This paper examines the initial experiences of both SRK and small‐scale nurseries in the production and marketing of RACs as well as their performance during subsequent field multiplications. Producing and selling RACs offers a profitable business opportunity, especially when productivity and sales increase. Compared to other rapid multiplication technologies, RACs also allow to significantly increase the volumes of early generation seed produced. Key recommendations are to create awareness and to develop adequate marketing strategies to promote their uptake, and to ensure RACs are adequately multiplied into commercial seed to improve its availability to smallholder farmers in Kenya.

Influence of calcium nitrate on potato productivity and soil condition in the forest-steppe of the Chelyabinsk region

The article discusses the results of field experiments to study the effect of calcium on the formation of the planned yield and quality of potato tubers in the conditions of the Chelyabinsk region. The objectives of the study included assessing the effect of mineral fertilizers on the agrochemical properties of the soil. It has been proven that the use of balanced norms of mineral fertilizers based on a planned yield of 40 t/ha (both with calcium and without it) has a significant impact on the mineral nutrition regime of plants. The introduction of calcium increases the adaptive ability of plants to drought conditions, while an increase in nitrogen nutrition of potatoes is observed in the first half of the growing season, and phosphorus and potassium nutrition throughout the growing season. As a result, in the variant (N130P150K130Ca158) with the introduction of calcium, the highest yield (+41.3% of the control) and the marketability of tubers (+5.1%), as well as high product quality, are observed, while in the variant without calcium (N130P150K130) a decrease in the content of dry matter in tubers by 1.7%, and starch - by 0.99% compared with the control (without fertilizers).

Assessing socioeconomic impact of pathogen tested and conventional practice sweet potato production in the highlands of Papua New Guinea

Sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas) is a major staple food crop in Papua New Guinea (PNG), grown extensively in the high-altitude Highlands as a subsistence food crop by smallholder farmers and it is developing into commercial production for cash income. However, pests and diseases attack remain a major challenge. Most of the PNG farmers do not practice an active pests and diseases management, which has a significant impact on the yield and farmers' income. Few farmers have opted to use cultural practices, though these methods are ineffective and expensive. An alternative intervention technology through Pathogen Tested (PT) seeds as a part of Integrated Pest and Disease Management (IPDM) technology was trialed in three different zones in the Highlands of PNG and compared with the Conventional Practice (CP). The study was done using farmer participatory research approach (FPR). Pre-designed structured questionnaires were administered to collect data for yield, costs, income, and farmer's perception. The Benefit Cost Ratio (BCR) analysis was used to compare the costs, benefits, and net incomes. T-test statistics was used to compare the mean yield. The farmer perception was summarized using descriptive statistics. Results revealed that marketable sweet potato yield was significantly (P < 0.01) improved with implementation of the PT practice compared to the CP. The improvement in storage root yield had subsequent result in the net income doubled for the farmers. The yield and quality of storage roots had significant influence on the farmers' perception towards adoption of the IPDM technology.

Purchase of ultra-processed foods in Norway: A repeated cross-sectional analysis of food sales in 2013 and 2019.

A dietary pattern dominated by ultra-processed foods has been associated with non-communicable diseases in several studies. A previous study from 2013 found a high share of ultra-processed foods in Norwegian food sales. This study aimed to investigate the current share of ultra-processed foods in Norway and the development in expenditure on ultra-processed foods from 2013. A repeated cross-sectional analysis of scanner data from the Consumer Price Index from September 2013 and 2019, and an investigation of the processing degree according to the NOVA classification system. Food sales in Norway. Norwegian grocery stores (N=180, for both time-periods). The share of expenditure in 2019 was highest for ultra-processed foods (46.5%) and minimally or unprocessed foods (36.3%), followed by processed foods (8.5%) and processed culinary ingredients (1.3%). An increasing degree of processing was found for several of the food groups between 2013 and 2019, however, most effect sizes were weak. In 2019, soft drinks became the most frequently purchased food item, surpassing milk and cheese, with the highest expenditure in Norwegian grocery stores. Increases in expenditure on ultra-processed foods were mainly due to increased expenditures on soft drinks, sweets, and potato products. A high share of expenditure on UPFs was found in Norway, which may imply a high consumption of these foods. The change in expenditure of NOVA-groups between 2013 and 2019 was small. Carbonated and non-carbonated soft drinks were the most frequently purchased products in Norwegian grocery stores and contributed to most of the expenditures.

The impact of future climate on orange-fleshed sweet potato production in arid areas of Northern Ethiopia. A case study in Afar region

Sweet potato is in its introductory phase as a food-based approach to alleviate malnutrition in the Afar region, where, due to climate change, agricultural drought impedes crop production. This study assesses the impact of climate change on orange-fleshed sweet potato (OFSP) fresh storage root yield production over the Afar region using the Aqua Crop model. This model was fed with daily rainfall and minimum and maximum temperature datasets, for the baseline climate (1980–2009) as well as future (2010–2099) climate projections under two representative concentration pathways: RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5. These datasets were statistically downscaled from twenty (20) general circulation models that are used in the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5). The impact of climate change on sweet potatoes was assessed by comparing the change in average sweet potato yields in the baseline climate condition against the average of simulated sweet potato yields in the Near-term (NT) (2010–2039), Mid-term (MT) (2040–2069), and End-term (ET) (2070–2099) under RCP 8.5 and RCP 4.5. Simulation shows increased future storage root yield production for NT (3.23%), MT (3.90%), and ET (7.25%) under RCP 4.5 and MT (5.88%) and NT (6.71%) from the observed yield data (32.0 t/ha) except for Near-term (−9.59%) under RCP 8.5. Similarly, projected climate shows increase in temperature Tmax (0.93–4.10 °C), Tmin (0.88–4.54 °C) and precipitation (28.9–37.8%) under both RCPs which will favor sweet potato yield production increase in near-term, mid-term reaching climax in end-term. Simulation with planting dates shows that normal planting date (July 01), gives better yields than early (April 22) or late planting (01 August). This finding may perhaps be used as preliminary data in adoption and upscaling of orange-fleshed sweet potato in Afar region.

Research and Validation of Potato Late Blight Detection Method Based on Deep Learning

Late blight, caused by phytophthora infestans, is a devastating disease in potato production. In severe cases, this can lead to potato crop failure. To rapidly detect potato late blight, in this study, a deep learning model was developed to discriminate the degree of potato leaf diseases with high recognition accuracy and a fast inference speed. It constructed a total of seven categories of potato leaf disease datasets in single and complex backgrounds, which were augmented using data enhancement method increase to increase the number of images to 7039. In this study, the performance of the pre-trained model for fine-grained classification of potato leaf diseases was evaluated comprehensively in terms of accuracy, inference speed, and the number of parameters. The ShuffleNetV2 2× model with better generalization ability and faster inference speed was selected and improved. Three improvement strategies were proposed: introducing an attention module, reducing the depth of the network, and reducing the number of 1 × 1 convolutions. Their effects on the performance of the underlying model were explored through experiments, and the best form of improvement was determined. The loss function of the improved model converged to 0.36. This was compared to the base model, which was reduced by 34.5%. In the meantime, the improved model reduced the number of parameters, FLOPs, and model size by approximately 23%, increased classification accuracy by 0.85%, and improved CPU inference speed by 25%. Deploying the improved model to the embedded device, the overall classification precision was 94%, and the average time taken to detect a single image was 3.27 s. The method provided critical technical support for the automatic identification of potato late blight.

Responses of yield, quality and water use efficiency of potato grown under different drip irrigation and nitrogen levels

Proper irrigation and fertilization are essential for achieve high tuber yield and quality in potato production. However, the high cost of these inputs necessitate optimization of their use to improve both water use efficiency and crop productivity. This study aimed to investigate the impact of irrigation and nitrogen fertilization on potato yield, quality and water use efficiency. The research included different drip irrigation treatments (100%, 66%, and 33% of field capacity) and nitrogen levels: 0 (N0), 100 (N1), 200 (N2), 300 (N3), 400 (N4) and 500 (N5) kg N ha−1. The results indicated that potato yield and growth were more sensitive to irrigation treatment than nitrogen levels. Full irrigation with 300 kg N ha−1 produced the highest total tuber yield, while low irrigation treatments resulted in significantly lower yields. In contrast, the 66% field capacity irrigation treatment consistently had the highest water use efficiency in both years of the study. Furthermore, the study showed that the quality characteristics of the tubers were negatively impacted by full irrigation treatments compared to low irrigation. These findings suggest that with appropriate irrigation and nitrogen application, potatoes can be produced with acceptable yields while conserving water and minimizing nitrogen use. This research emphasizes the importance of optimizing inputs to improve water use efficiency and yield productivity while reducing water. As a result, obtaining useful information on crop management for farmers to make informed decisions may be possible by achieving optimal irrigation and nitrogen levels.

Farmers’ Perception On Main Technical Factors Affecting Irish Potato Production In Rwanda: Case Of Musanze District

The potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) is one of the most common foods consumed in Rwanda and all over the world. However, the yields of potato remain low, ranging from 5 to 20 tons per ha in Rwanda. The average yield obtained during this research is 8.873 t per ha. This low potato yield is mainly caused by technical factors, including low seed quality, pests and diseases, agriculture input that are not well applied, and crop rotation. The objective of this study was to identify the main technical factors affecting potato production based on farmer perception in Musanze district of Rwanda. For this study, seven sectors of the district were selected, and in each sector, 27 potato farmers were randomly selected and interviewed using formal, informal, and expert interviews based on the prepared questionnaires. The qualitative and quantitative data were recorded and analysed using Microsoft Excel and STATA 14. Among the 192 farmers from all seven targeted sectors of the district, 17.19% used a formal seed system, while 82.81% used an informal seed system. The obtained results showed that the prevalence of diseases and pests such as late blight, bacteria wilt (BW) and aphids was perceived at 31.9, 68.8, and 86.8%, respectively. The study recommends an increase in awareness of certified seeds, their presence on the market, a reduced price for certified seeds, and the management of soil-borne diseases using appropriate crop rotation and biological and chemical control, among other things. Keywords: Technical factor, farmer’s perception, potato, Musanze district

Identifying the Influencing Factors of Plastic Film Mulching on Improving the Yield and Water Use Efficiency of Potato in the Northwest China

Potato is an important crop in the Northwest China, however, its production is constrained by water scarcity. Plastic mulching film is an efficient technical measure to alleviate potato production restrictions. Therefore, studying the response of potato yield and water use efficiency to plastic mulching film is of great significance. The study conducted a meta-analysis to quantify the effect of plastic film on potato yield and water use efficiency in the Northwest. The study then quantified the effects of different levels of natural conditions (mean annual precipitation, mean annual accumulated temperature ≥ 10 °C), fertilizer application (nitrogen fertilizer, phosphate fertilizer, potassium fertilizer), cultivation measures (planting density, cultivation method, mulching method), and mulching properties (mulching color, mulching thickness) through subgroups analysis. Finally, the random forest model was used to quantify the importance of factors. Plastic film mulching increased yield by 27.17% and water use efficiency by 27.16%, which had a better performance under relatively lower mean annual precipitation, low mean annual accumulated temperature ≥ 10 °C, relatively lower fertilizer application, planting density of 15,000–45,000 plants·ha−1, ridge, and black mulching. Natural conditions, fertilization measures were vital to improve productivity. The research results can provide reference for agricultural management strategies of potato cultivation using plastic film in the Northwest China and other potato-producing areas.

Identification and Evaluation of the Growth Promotion of Endophytic Bacteria on in vitro Potato Plants.

&lt;b&gt;Background and Objective:&lt;/b&gt; Isolation and investigation of plant growth promoting bacteria on potato plants can provide significant information for the application of beneficial bacteria in potato production. This study aims to isolate and characterize endophytic bacteria isolated from potato roots. In addition, the potential application of endophytes in promoting potato growth under &lt;i&gt;in vitro&lt;/i&gt; conditions was also investigated. &lt;b&gt;Materials and Methods:&lt;/b&gt; The roots from 15 healthy potato plants were excised and surface sterilized by NaOCl and finally rinsed by sterilized water. The confirmed surface-sterilized roots were then aseptically cut into small fragments and spread onto the isolation media, followed by incubation at 27°C for up to 3 days. Six isolates that showed differences in colony morphology were selected for further investigation. All isolates were screened for IAA production, nitrogen fixation, and phosphate solubilization. &lt;b&gt;Results:&lt;/b&gt; Five of the isolates were identified as &lt;i&gt;Bacillus&lt;/i&gt; and isolate 30 was identified as &lt;i&gt;Paenibacillus alvei&lt;/i&gt;. All isolates exhibited good IAA production. While Iso-27 had no nitrogen fixation activity, Iso-28 showed the highest level of nitrogen fixation activity (3.59 mg L&lt;sup&gt;1&lt;/sup&gt;), four isolates (Iso-9, Iso-10, Iso-11, Iso-28) could solubilize phosphate, ranging from 49.64 g L&lt;sup&gt;1&lt;/sup&gt; to 67.98 mg L&lt;sup&gt;1&lt;/sup&gt;. After being inoculated with &lt;i&gt;in vitro&lt;/i&gt; potato plants, isolates 9, 10, 28, 30, improved the stalk length, root number, fresh mass and dried mass of the potato plants. &lt;b&gt;Conclusion:&lt;/b&gt; The four isolates can potentially be applied in &lt;i&gt;in vitro&lt;/i&gt; potato culture.

Response of Crop Performance and Yield of Spring Sweet Potato (Ipomoea batatas [L.] Lam) as Affected by Mechanized Transplanting Properties

The sweet potato transplanters of diverse transplanting configurations have been shown to produce various planting properties in relation to different raised bed cropping systems, thus affecting crop growth and yield in sweet potato cultivation. In Shandong Province, a field experiment assessed the effects of three treatments (RB1, mulched raised beds with a finger-clip type transplanter; RB2, bare raised beds with a finger-clip type transplanter; and RB3, bare raised beds with a clamping-plate type transplanter) on soil temperature, plant growth, yield, and economic benefits. With the lowest coefficient variation of plant spacing and planting depth, the RB1 with the finger-clip type transplanter had 6.4% and 6.0% higher temperature at 5–10 cm soil layer by using the plastic-mulch for rapid early slips growth as compared with the RB2 and the RB3, respectively. Consequently, the leaf area index in the RB1 was increased by 5.6% and 6.4% as compared to the RB2 and the RB3, separately. This finally contributed to 57.5–70.8% greater fresh vines weight and 23.8–33.8% higher tubers yield in the RB1 compared with both the RB2 and the RB3 treatments, respectively. In general, in the mulched raised bed system of the Huang-Huai-Hai region of China, the finger-clip type transplanter could be a suitable option for the transplanting of sweet potato slips. In the bare raised bed system, meanwhile, the clamping-plate type transplanter has the potential to increase the production of sweet potatoes.

Comparative Transcriptome Analysis Reveals the Effect of Lignin on Storage Roots Formation in Two Sweetpotato (Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam.) Cultivars.

Sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam.) is one of the most important crops with high storage roots yield. The formation and expansion rate of storage root (SR) plays a crucial role in the production of sweet potato. Lignin affects the SR formation; however, the molecular mechanisms of lignin in SR development have been lacking. To reveal the problem, we performed transcriptome sequencing of SR harvested at 32, 46, and 67 days after planting (DAP) to analyze two sweet potato lines, Jishu25 and Jishu29, in which SR expansion of Jishu29 was early and had a higher yield. A total of 52,137 transcripts and 21,148 unigenes were obtained after corrected with Hiseq2500 sequencing. Through the comparative analysis, 9577 unigenes were found to be differently expressed in the different stages in two cultivars. In addition, phenotypic analysis of two cultivars, combined with analysis of GO, KEGG, and WGCNA showed the regulation of lignin synthesis and related transcription factors play a crucial role in the early expansion of SR. The four key genes swbp1, swpa7, IbERF061, and IbERF109 were proved as potential candidates for regulating lignin synthesis and SR expansion in sweet potato. The data from this study provides new insights into the molecular mechanisms underlying the impact of lignin synthesis on the formation and expansion of SR in sweet potatoes and proposes several candidate genes that may affect sweet potato yield.

THE EFFICIENCY OF USING ALTERNATIVE FERTILIZERS IN POTATO PLANTATIONS

Field trials with the two potato variety were carried out in sod stagnogley soil. Soil agrochemical parameters: pHKCl 6.7 organic matter (OV) content in soil 2.3%, phosphorus (P2O5) content - 149 mg kg-1 and potassium (K2O) content - 200 mg kg-1 in soil. Potato plantations were created using different variants of fertilizer mix with pig (from SIA “Latvi Dan Agro”) and cattle (from SIA “Ziedi JP”) manure digestate and wood ash (from SIA“Gren Jelgava”) in different ratio (digestate :wood ash ratio used: 4:1and 3:1). The rates of innovative mixed fertilizer for pig and cattle manure digestates for potatoes were 15 and 30 t ha-1. Both norms for digestate manure from pure pigs and cattle were used as control options. The potato production norm was 3.0 t ha-1. The placement of the variants in the trial was randomized, in triplicate. In the study, the two types of fertilizer had different effects on potato tuber yield. Using mixtures of pig manure digestate and wood ash in different ratios, the average yield was 34.2 t ha-1, but using mixtures of cattle manure digestate and wood ash, the average yield was 27.8 t ha-1. In the studied variants, its content in potato dry matter varied in the range of 9.15-11.42%. The amount of dry matter affects the culinary properties of the tubers. The application of fertilizer mixtures increased the dry matter content by an average of 1.7–2.7%. Fertilizer variants with higher tuber yield or higher starch content provided the highest starch yield. In general, the use of mixtures of wood ash and biogas digestate to fertilize crops and improve soil fertility can be an efficient way to process both products and can be an environmentally friendly alternative to fertilizers. The objective of the research was to study the influence of digestate and wood ash mixtures fertilizer rates on potato productivity and quality.

The Use of Effective Microorganisms as a Sustainable Alternative to Improve the Quality of Potatoes in Food Processing

Background: The ecological approach to agriculture causes the desire to eliminate pesticides. Work is underway to replace them with natural agents. Aim: The aim of the research was to introduce an innovative factor and non-invasively increase the yield of dry matter and starch and thus improve the quality of the raw material for the production of potato-enriched products. Material and methods: The field experiment was carried out in central-eastern Poland, using the randomized sub-block method, in a dependent split-split-plot design in three repetitions. The superior factor of the first order was pre-planting treatments by treating seed potatoes with a microbiological preparation for (a) 10 min, (b) 15 min, and (c) untreated seed potatoes (untreated control). The second-order factor was 14 potato cultivars of all groups of earliness. Qualitative research was carried out under laboratory conditions. Results: Pre-planting treatments with the use of a microbiological preparation had a positive effect on the yield of dry matter and starch compared to the control while modifying the characteristics related to the quality of potato chips. The tested cultivars determined both the quantitative and qualitative characteristics of the chips to the greatest extent. Conclusions: Alternative solutions will allow the effective replacement of pesticides in potato production and processing.

Salinity effects on the activities of ROS scavenging enzymes in leaves of two sweet potato clones

AbstractSweet potato production, particularly in coastal areas is often prone to salinity. Salt‐tolerant clones will be needed to maintain production, but to date, little is known about salt tolerance traits in sweet potato. Salt stress may result in excessive uptake of unwanted ions into plant tissues leading to the formation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), which in turn may destroy membranes and reduce photosynthesis and growth. Antioxidant enzymes such as superoxide dismutase (SOD), peroxidase (POX), catalase (CAT), glutathione reductase (GR) and ascorbate peroxidase (APX) scavenge ROS and early changes in the activities of such enzymes could be used to identify salinity tolerant genotypes. Therefore, cuttings of two contrasting cultivars of sweet potato, BARI SP 8 (tolerant) and BARI SP 4 (sensitive) were greenhouse‐cultivated in nutrient solution for 21 days and then exposed to 100 mmol NaCl for 7 days. Three, five and seven days after salt application the youngest leaves were sampled individually and enzyme activities, potassium (K) and sodium (Na) concentrations, and SPAD (as a proxy for chlorophyll content) were determined. In both varieties leaf growth was not affected by salinity and young leaves grown under salinity had higher SPAD values than older leaves. Na concentration increased over time, particularly in earlier and in older leaves, whereas K was reduced in younger leaves. In general, enzyme activities were strongly affected by leaf age and leaf position. SOD and APX showed varietal but no salinity effects, CAT increased under salinity in both varieties, whereas POX was strongly reduced and GR was strongly increased under salinity in BARI SP 8 with no effect in BARI SP 4. Enzyme activities were not correlated to leaf Na, neither in relation to leaf age, nor leaf number or duration of salt stress in both varieties. However, varietal differences were observed regarding leaf K. Activities of SOD were highly positive and of CAT highly negatively correlated with leaf K under salinity in BARI SP 8 but not in BARI SP 4, whereas activities of GR and POX were strongly positively correlated with leaf K in BARI SP 4 under salinity but not in BARI SP 8. We conclude that potassium may have a strong regulating role on leaf stress levels and therefore on the activities of antioxidant enzymes. Varieties may differ in their tolerance strategy and we have shown that salinity does not generally increase levels of ROS‐scavenging enzymes in sweet potato leaves under salt stress. Confounding factors such as leaf age and leaf position as well as maintaining high leaf level K concentrations need to be considered when evaluating metabolic traits for salinity tolerance traits.

Electron Beam Irradiation to Control Rhizoctonia solani in Potato

This study focuses on the influence of pre-planting irradiation on the development, health, and yield of seed potatoes infected with Rhizoctonia solani. The research was prompted by the need to ensure crop security and sustainability in the modern-day environment, which calls into question the future sufficiency of crop yields. Considering that the focus has shifted to non-chemical methods of crop treatment at all plant development stages in response to more stringent regulations governing potato production, it is particularly important to refine physics-based methods to suppress fungal diseases caused by Rhizoctonia solani. Irradiation of tubers with 20–150 Gy inhibited the potato development phases and the doses exceeding 150 Gy completely suppressed the potato sprouting. Doses ranging from 20 Gy to 100 Gy decreased the quantity of large tubers by 10–20% on average while the number of medium and small tubers increased by 5–15% and 3–10%, respectively. Irradiation of seed potatoes also decreased the sclerotia and non-sclerotia forms of diseases caused by Rhizoctonia solani in the harvested tubers. It was found that 1 MeV electron irradiation with doses ranging from 20 Gy to 30 Gy is the most efficient for the pre-planting treatment of seed potatoes since the penetration of low-energy accelerated electrons into the upper layers of potato tubers ensures the suppression of diseases caused by Rhizoctonia solani by at least 10% from the value of non-irradiated samples and prevents the reduction of total yield allowing for a maximum of 25% loss.

Creation of potato hybrids (Solanum tuberosum) progeny with high field resistance against phytophotorosis

The creation of new potato varieties with prominent economically valuable properties and comprehensive resistance against the most common diseases is one of the main areas of crop breeding at present. First of all, this is due to the possibility of increasing the gross production of potatoes, improving its economic performance, as well as the tasks of protecting the environment from pesticide pollution, which contributes to a substantial improvement in the environment and obtaining environmentally safe products. The purpose of this study was to identify varieties with a prominent level of yield and resistance against potato blight in the western region of Ukraine. The study was conducted using field (assessment of disease development), laboratory, analytical, and mathematical and statistical methods. The paper provides a theoretical substantiation and a new solution to the important scientific task of establishing the specific features of the use of Ukrainian and foreign varieties, intervarietal and multispecies hybrids by parental forms in potato breeding. The study summarized the features of the manifestation of productivity components, quality traits, resistance to potato blight, correlations between economic and valuable traits, selection of new parent forms for intervarietal and interspecies hybridization, nature of high productivity, quality and potato blight resistance of breeding material, and created genetically valuable varieties with great value in potato selection and for agricultural production of Ukraine. Based on this, the possibility and effectiveness of the combination of the transfer of traits to the offspring and their inheritance was proven, which will expand the existing base of initial breeding material for further work on the creation of promising potato varieties of different maturity groups with highly valuable economic traits

Breeding work on new potato genotypes under the conditions of Primorsky Kray

Relevance. Potato is one of the most important agricultural crops used for various purposes. Its tubers are an essential food product for many people worldwide. The development of breeding technologies and an accelerated marketing of new promising potato genotypes play a significant role in the industry of potato production today. FSBSI “FSC of Agricultural Biotechnologies of the Far East named after A.K. Chaiki” conducted a complex study on potato hybrids.The research goal was to evaluate and select promising potato hybrids with high yield, marketability, and resistance to the most dangerous diseases. The experiments were carried out in our breeding nurseries located at Putsilovka v., Ussuriysk district, in the Kazachka river valley. Hybrids Purple potato × Manifest and (Aspiya×Qusto) × Manifest were used as the research object. The methodology of FSBSI “N. I. Vavilov All-Russian Institute of Plant Genetic Resources” and FSBSI “Russian Potato Research Center” were employed for the trials of the material. Fifty-two potato varieties from different maturity groups were used as pollen sources.Results. As the result, seventy-one hybrid combinations were created, 2272 flowers were pollinated, and 640 potato fruits were obtained. The efficiency of the crossing was 28.2%. Hybrids Pri15-12-23 Purple potato × Manifest and Pri-15-15-7 (Aspiya×Qusto) × Manifest had the highest rate of potato fruit formation. These accessions were characterized by good taste and high yield (48.7-51.0 t/ha), starch content (13.9-16.3 %), and vitamin C (15.0-15.4 mg/100 g). Tubers of these genotypes were oblong-oval or round with yellow flesh and small eyes. The studied accessions showed resistance to the main plant pathogens of the Russian Far East. Currently the obtained genotypes are tested for resistance to potato wart disease (S. Endobioticum, Dahlem pathotype) in the State variety trials. These accessions generate significant interest for breeding.

Autumn Film Mulched Ridge Microfurrow Planting Improves Yield and Nutrient-Use Efficiency of Potatoes in Dryland Farming

Potatoes (Solanum tuberosum) are the most important noncereal crop in the world. Increasing potato production is critical for future global food security. China is the world’s largest potato producer, and potato productivity is constrained by water scarcity and poor fertilizer use efficiency (NUEF). Recently, autumn film mulched ridge microfurrow rainwater harvesting (ARF) tillage has been successfully applied in potato production in dryland farming in Northwest China. However, the effects of ARF on the use efficiency (NUEF) of applied nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K) nutrients in potatoes have not been systematically studied. A 3-year, consecutive field trial with four treatments, including moldboard planting without fertilizer application (control, CK), spring and autumn film mulched ridge microfurrow rainwater harvesting planting (SRF and ARF), and standard film mulched ridge-furrow planting (FRF), was conducted during 2018–2020. ARF greatly increased the water levels in the 0–200 cm soil profile at potato harvest compared to SRF, FRF, and CK. ARF and SRF significantly increased the levels of soil organic carbon (SOC), total and available NPK (TN, TP, TK and AN, AP, AK) compared to FRF and CK, with ARF being the most efficient at increasing the levels of the AN, AP, and AK. ARF significantly improved the soil water and nutrient activity and contributed the most to potato tuber and biomass yield and hence the NUEF. Under ARF, significant and positive associations were observed between the soil fertility traits, soil water storage (SWS), potato tuber yield, biomass yield, and NUEF. Soil fertility traits and the SWS were positively correlated with potato tuber and biomass yield. The SWS, potato tuber, and biomass yield positively correlated with the partial factor productivity (PFP) and the recovery efficiency (RE) of the applied NPK nutrients. Increased nutrient levels and their combination increased the NUEF and NUEF’s components. The TN and AN contributed more significantly to the PEP and agronomic efficiency (AE) of the applied NPK nutrients; the TP was significantly positively correlated with the AE (AEN, AEP, and AEK), while the AP was correlated with PEP (PFPN, PFPP, and PFPK) and RE (REN, REP, and REK); the TK was significantly positively correlated with the PFP and RE of the applied PK nutrients, while the AK was significantly positively correlated with the PEP, AE, and RE of the applied K nutrients. Therefore, ARF results in a synchronous increase in yield and NUEF and is the most efficient planting system for potato production in dryland farming.