New potato varieties obtained at National Institute of Research and Development for potato and sugar beet Braşov

Abstract

Potato is a plant with great ecological plasticity, nutritious, tasty and inexpensive, which is the staple food of many peoples. Potato use efficiently use the modern technologies and provides the greatest amount of food per unit of area. In terms of energy is of great importance for human consumption in a variety of ways of preparation and industrialization. National Institute of Research and Development for Potato and Sugar Beet Brasov is working constantly to create new potato varieties adapted to changing climatic conditions, with high yield, suitable for the processing industry, to satisfy the both quantitative and qualitative needs of consumers. Regarding the genetic complex structure of potato (2n = 4 x = 48 chromosomes) and the segregation of the desired character in the offspring produced by sexual hybridisation, creating new varieties of potato requires a long period (10-12 years) and a large volume of activity (chance for registration of a new variety is 1 to over 100.000 seedlings). The key objective was to select varieties immune to wart disease, with high resistance to other diseases (mainly potato late blight), with good agronomic and cooking qualities. As the result of breeding work three new varieties were produced: Azaria, Darilena and Asinaria. The varieties are conceived for autumn-winter consumption, being suitable for most culinary preparations, from salad, pommes frites to mash potatoes. The potato varieties were breed using the hybrid cross method followed by individual clonal selection, according to the classical scheme of potato breeding. The best potato clone was selected from many others. The resistance to wart disease was tested at Pojorâta Station (Suceava) and the resistance to late blight and viruses were determinated in the fields and laboratories of NIRDPSB Brasov. Also to NIRDPSB Brasov it has been determined the culinary quality of potato tubers by assesing their behavior to boiling. The yield capacity in different environmental conditions and also the ecological plasticity of the varieties were tested in State Institute for Variety Testing and Registration network