Possible production of mini-tuber in aeroponic syetem and its comparison with conventional cultivation method

This study was performed to examine the possibile production of mini-tubers (seeds) of two potato cultivars (Savalan and Agria) in an aeroponic system and its comparison with the conventional cultivation method in 2009 at Seed Production Company of Dashte-Zarin, Ardebil. Seedlings obtained from tissue culture were transferred to an adaptation room and then planted in the greenhouse under in vivo conditions. In both aeroponic and conventional systems, a completely randomized design with three replications having plant densities of 10×10 cm2 was used. During the growth period and after harvest, characteristics like root length, stolon length, plant height, number and weight of mini-tubers per plant and m2, average of mini-tuber size and mini-tuber storage durability were measured. Analysis of variance showed that there were significant differences between two systems, two cultivars and their interactions for the number and weight of mini-tuber/ m2, average of mini-tuber size, plant height and stolon length. Savalan cultivar had higher mini-tuber number and weight (per m2), stolon length and root length than Agria cultivar. Number and weight (per m2) of mini-tubers, in an aeroponic system was 110% and 38% higher than the conventional method, respectively. In this experiment, because of increasing 493 mini-tuber/m2, aeroponic approch was chosed and recommended for potato seed production.