A COMPARISON OF FIELD PERFORMANCES OF MINITUBERS AND MICROTUBERS USED IN SEED POTATO PRODUCTION

Field performances of minitubers obtained from in vitro plantlets anti tubers obtained from microtubers from 6 potato genotypes (Nif, Clone 122, Agria, Resy, Marfona and Granola) were compared. In vitro plantlets and microtubers were obtained by using meristem culture technics in the laboratory and at seedbeds. Initially, in vitro plantlets (IP) and microtubers (MT) were grown at seedbeds and they were evaluated for morphological and yield characteristics. The IP and the MT plants were not significantly different for plant height, stem number, branch number and leaf number. The high means were obtained from the IP plants such as leaf area, tuber number, single tuber weight, tuber yield, tuber width and length. Genotype Nif had the highest means for the majority of characteristics. In the first and second years of field production, the MT group were found to have higher means for plant height, silent number, branch number and leaf number. But the IP and MT tubers were not significantly different in terms of yield characteristics except tuber number. The high values for yield and related traits were obtained for Clone 122 and Nif.