Seed-potato production through sprouts and field multiplication and cultivar performance in organic system

Abstract

Organic farming requires the production or use of certified seeds from the same cultivation system and, the information of potato cultivars adapted to organic production system is important. The objective of this work was to study the feasibility of utilizing sprouts of different potato cultivars, seed multiplication and yield potential in field conditions without using agrochemicals. Three experiments were conducted: the first experiment using sprouts as seed under protected cultivation in Guarapuava, Paraná State, Brazil, from November 2011 to February 2012; the second experiment was field conducted in Candói, Paraná State, from May to September 2012 and the third experiment was field conducted in Guarapuava, Paraná State, from February to May 2013. The experimental design was a randomized block design with 3 replications in all 3 experiments. In the 2 first experiments the following cultivars were evaluated: BRS Ana, BRS Clara, BRS Eliza, Crystal and Catucha, and in the last experiment Agata, Bintje, Baronesa and BRSIPR Bel were included. The traits analyzed were length of main stem, number of stems, number of leaves, fresh weight and number of tubers, percentage of infection by viruses and in the second experiment the incidence of late blight on leaves. In the third experiment, leaf area index (LAI), tuber, leaves and stem dry weights and late blight severity were also analyzed. In the first experiment, the cultivars showed differences in plant height and minituber production, the highest value was observed in cultivars BRS Clara and BRS Ana for plant height and cultivar BRS Clara for minituber production. In the second experiment, there was difference only in plant height, the tallest cultivars were BRS Ana and BRS Clara . There was low spread of viruses and, it did not directly reflect in tuber yield. In the third experiment the cultivars with lower disease severity were those recommended to organic farming, especially BRS Clara and Catucha; this second cultivar had the higher LAI and tuber yield, as well as resistance to late blight, factors that might have contributed to the recorded highest total tuber yield (13.8 t/ha).

Potential use of fresh mulch to curb potato late blight epidemics in Brazil

“…The differences were statistically significant for the most resistant cultivar 'BRS Ana' but not for 'Agata' (Table 3). The yield recorded for 'BRS Ana' in the treatments without mulch (1.5 t/ha) was smaller than that recorded by Virmond et al (24) for potato crop in organic management: 3.3 t/ha. On the other hand, the yield obtained for 'Agata' (7.1 t/ha) was higher than that recorded by those same authors (Virmond et al (24)): 1.8 t/ha.…”

Viral Diseases in Potato

“…To address this problem, Brazil has adopted and periodically revised a seed certification system that establishes norms for seed-potato production in diverse categories: (1) G-0, which is the first generation derived from in-vitro plants, although imported basic classes can also be considered as G-0; (2) the basic and certified seeds, usually going up to G-4, but having virus incidence thresholds mandatorily respected. This is currently regulated under the Federal MAPA IN-32 (as of 20/11/2012, http An effective low cost alternative system to produce high grade, virus-free, minituber/seed-potato lots involves the sprout/seed-potato technology (Virmond et al 2017;Souza Dias et al 2018). This may be accomplished either by the seed-potato exporting or importing country, and the research has shown that sprouts are durable, easy to handle and economic, when compared with potato tubers.…”

“…Upon arrival at the final destination, the sprouts can be directly planted under greenhouse conditions, using horticultural soil-substrate or in a hydro-or aeroponics system to produce minituber/seed-potatoes. Details about the methodology can be found in Virmond et al (2017). The sprout/seed-potato technology is a novel method to increase the multiplication rate of high-grade (G-0, basic classes), national or imported seed-potato stocks.…”

The Potato Crop

“…To address this problem, Brazil has adopted and periodically revised a seed certification system that establishes norms for seed-potato production in diverse categories: (1) G-0, which is the first generation derived from in-vitro plants, although imported basic classes can also be considered as G-0; (2) the basic and certified seeds, usually going up to G-4, but having virus incidence thresholds mandatorily respected. This is currently regulated under the An effective low cost alternative system to produce high grade, virus-free, minituber/seed-potato lots involves the sprout/seed-potato technology (Virmond et al 2017;Souza Dias et al 2018). This may be accomplished either by the seed-potato exporting or importing country, and the research has shown that sprouts are durable, easy to handle and economic, when compared with potato tubers.…”