Adaptability Evaluation of 104 Potato Hybrids in Ardabil and Alborz Provinces

This study was performed to assess potato hybrids for their promising agronomic, and marketability traits and their adaptability to climatic conditions of potato production areas in country. Some 104 potato hybrids selected during five years (2010-2014) along with Savalan, Ceaser, Agria and Khavaran cultivars, as controls, were compared in an augment design (preliminary experiment) without replications both at the Agricultural and Natural Resources Research Station of Ardabil and Seed and Plant Institute Improvement of Karaj. These hybrids (104), tested in this experiment, were from 8 breeding populations. One half of the hybrids (52) in Ardabil and the other half (52) in Karaj (a total of 104 hybrids) each were planted in the 4 blocks and each block consisted of 13 hybrids with four control (Agria, Khavaran, Ceaser and Savalan cultivars). During growing period and after harvest the traits like: plant height, main stem number per plant, main stem diameter, tuber number and weight per plant, marketable tuber yield and tuber dry matter percent were measured. Then 81 hybrids were selected as superior hybrids as to their marketable tuber yield and tuber dry matter content. Hybrids selected consisted of 17 hybrids from ♂ Satina × ♀ Luca population, 36 hybrids from ♂ Ceaser × ♀ Luca population, 14 hybrids from ♂ Savalan × ♀ Luca population, 7 hybrids from ♂ Savalan × ♀ Ceaser population, 4 hybrids from ♂ Ceaser × ♀ Savalan population, 1 hybrids from ♂ Satina × ♀ Savalan population and 2 hybrids from ♂ Satina × ♀ Savalan population. Cluster analysis divided 104 hybrids and cultivars into three groups. The first group with 49 hybrids had higher average tuber number per plant, marketable tuber yield and tuber dry matter percent than the remaining hybrids. In factor analysis, three independent factor total explained 73.90% of the variations. These were named as, 1- tuber yield and its components factor (marketable tuber yield, tuber number and weight per plant), 2- the plant structures factor (plant height, number of main stems per plant and main stem diameter) and 3- quality factor (tuber dry matter percent).