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Title: DEVELOPING POTATOES ADAPTED TO DIVERSE ENVIRONMENTS: RESULTS OF EARLY-GENERATION SELECTION STUDIES IN MAINE AND NORTH CAROLINA

Author
item YENCHO, G. - NCSU
item Haynes, Kathleen
item CLOUGH, MARK - NCSU
item STERRETT, SUSAN - VIRGINIA TECH
item HENNINGER, MELVIN - RUTGERS UNIV

Submitted to: Potato Association of America Proceedings
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/20/2004
Publication Date: 1/20/2005
Citation: Yencho, G.C., Haynes, K.G., Clough, M.E., Sterrett, S.B., Henninger, M.R. 2005. Developing potatoes adapted to diverse environments: results of early-generation selection studies in Maine and North Carolina. Amer. J. Potato Res. 82:97. (Abstract).

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Potatoes fill important spring and summer market niches for eastern processors and consumers, and they contribute significantly to the rural economies of the mid-Atlantic (MA) and southeastern US (SE). However, most varieties grown in the MA and SE are initially selected by breeding programs located in the north, hence it is difficult to develop adapted varieties for these regions. In 1998, we began a series of early-generation selection studies in Maine and North Carolina. Our goal was to generate information to improve breeding efforts for the M-A and SE. From 1998 to 2001, 4959, 6908, 4469, and 5770 duplicate single-hill plots were planted in NC and ME. Selections were made by the same evaluator(s) in each environment, without knowledge of prior selections. All selections were advanced using the same selection method to 6-hill 2nd-year and 20-hill 3rd-year plots in NC and ME. Single-hill selection rates averaged 1.5% and 1.7% in NC and ME, but there was little overlap at each site. Over four years, an average of 84 single-hills were selected in NC and 99 in ME, with a mean of 7 clones being selected at both sites each year. Results of the 2nd- and 3rd-year selection cycles were similar. During 2003/2004, the 31 promising selections remaining from this project will be evaluated in replicated trials for yield, heat tolerance, and table-stock and processing characteristics in three environments (NC, NJ, and VA). Results to date suggest that selections from the northern breeding program need to be evaluated earlier in the course of the breeding effort to identify clones better suited to the M-A and SE regions. (oral, breeding. PAA Membership 2122)