UNIFORMITY OF POTATO MINITUBERS DERIVED FROM MERISTEM CULTURES OF NUCLEAR SEED STOCKS

The uniformity of minitubers of meristem plantlets obtained from the meristems of nuclear seed stocks in the laboratory were studied in the greenhouse during 2008 and 2009. Tuber number per plant (TNP), tuber yield per plant (TVP) and single tuber weight (STW) were recorded on the 10 randomly selected plants in two consecutive years. Based on the statistical analysis there was significant variation for genotype in terms of TNP and TYP. Year and genotype x year components of variation were not significant as expected. STW did not have any significant variation for genotype, year and their interaction. Granola had higher means such as 3.3 in 2008 and 3.7 in 2009 than Hermes for TNP (2008: 2.6 and 2009: 3.0). Within Granola and Hermes the means of TNP, TYP and STW of 2008 and 2009 were not different from each other. In conclusion, the uniformity of minitubers within cultivars during the propagation of 2 years indicated that nuclear seed stocks could be used in minituber production in the greenhouse for more than one year.