EFFECT OF DIFFERENT METHODS OF VEGETATIVE PROPAGATION ON YIELD AND QUALITY OF POTATO UNDER SANDY SOIL CONDITIONS

Abstract

The present study was carried out to evaluate six vegetative propagation potato seeds ( large tubers ,small tubers , vertical pieces, apical pieces , attachment pieces and mini tubers ) from Nicola and Diamant cultivars . The experiment was carried out at Abd Elmaged Seleem Village , El Nobariah Sector , El Behera Governorate, during the summer seasons of 1997 & 1998 .

The obtained results could be summarized as follows: 1: Planting material effect

Vegetative characteristics : The percent of emergence was the high when large potato tubers were used compared to other planting materials. Concerning most of the vegetative growth characters, i.e. plant fresh and dry weight, number of stems and branches per plant ,large tuber was most favorable for plant growth than the other planting materials. As for number of leaves per plant, vertical pieces and apical pieces exhibited the highest values, while, attachment pieces as well as large tuber gave the largest leaf area.

Yield characteristics : Large seed tubers showed superiority in average plant yield , total yield , tuber dry matter and specific gravity .Large tubers , apical and attachment pieces showed significant increase as compared with small and mini tubers in tuber percentage >50mm.