CORRELATIONS BETWEEN GENETIC CHARACTERISTICS AND AGRONOMIC TRAITS OF SOME GENOTYPES IN THE SELECTION PROCESS OF NEW POTATO VARIETIES

Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) is a key crop for global food security. Therefore, under actual climatic changes, it is important to search for genotypes with steady characteristics in contrasting weather conditions. The aim of the present study was to establish the relationship between the development of the biomass and the number, respectively the weight of the tubers in order to introduce into the breeding program new genotypes, future varieties, with increased adaptability to environmental factors.The paper presents the results of a field study conducted to NIRDPSB Brasov, Romania, between 2021-2022, to evaluate some agronomic traits in potato genotpyes. A total of 15 potato genotypes (1901/6, 1930/3, 1901/12, 1927/1, 1897/2, 1979/5, 1891/1, 1927/3, 1901/11, 1941/8, 1895/4, 19-1876/7, 1939/2, 21-1895/1, 21-1901/7) along with one commercial cultivar (Brasovia) were evaluated. The experiment was laid out in a randomized complete block design with three replications.Data was recorded on plant height, main stem number per plant, tuber number and weight per plant and total tuber yield. Significantly positive phenotypic correlations for the height and mass of the plants were observed to the both determinations in the both years (r=0.90175, r=0.889, r=0.54505, r=0.562). The number and the weight of tubers were in an evolutionary process during the two experimental years. Genotypes 21-1901/7 (45.55 t/ha in 2021 and 34.17 t/ha in 2022) and 1939/2 (47.93 t/ha in 2021, respectively, 30.70 t/ha in 2022) recorded significantly high productions and even in the extreme conditions of 2022 maintained their high production capacity.The present findings show the existence of proper genetic variability and divergence among traits, and the identified traits can be used in a potato improvement program.