Evaluating Tolerance of Potato Cultivars and Promising Clones to Water Deficit in Ardabil Region

In this research potato cultivars including Savalan, Agria and Kaiser and its promising clones (397009-3, 397008-10 and 397009-7) were examined in three irrigation regimes in a split plot design based on randomized complete blok design with three replications in Ardabil Agriculture and Natural Resources Research Station during 2008 and 2009. Irrigation treatments (irrigation rate of 50, 75 and 100 percent of water required) were assigned to main plots and promising clones and cultivars to sub-plot. Analysis of variance showed that there were significant differences among irrigation levels and cultivars in for total and marketable tuber yield, tuber number, tuber weight per plant, years and years × cultivars interaction of total tuber yield, irrigation levels × cultivars interaction in all traits except total tuber weight per plant and main stem number per plant. All of the clones and cultivars at 100 percent required water, 397009-3, 397008-10 and 397009-7 clones, Savalan and Kaiser cultivars at 75 percent required water and 397009-3, 397008-10 clones and Savalan cultivar at 50 percent required water produced higher marketable tuber yields. Clone No. 397008-10 produced high marketable tuber number and tuber weight per plant in all of irrigation levels. Clones 397008-10 and 397009-3 and Savalan were selected under mild and severe water deficit conditions, and Agria as susceptible to water deficit.