How to identify potato cultivars which are resistant to late blight? (Liveseed Practice abstract)
Pre-sprouting is a measurement in which seed potatoes are exposed to conditions that promote the development of sprouts which emerge earlier after planting.
Late blight, caused by the fungus Phytophthora infestans (Fig. 1), represents one of the most important yield-limiting factors in organic potato growing. Breeding for resistance is one important measurement to reduce blight damage. However, conventional potato trials, which are conducted with the use of fungicides, do not provide organic farmers with any information on the cultivar’s resistance to late blight.
Solution
Organic farmers can set up a simplified cultivar trial to identify potato cultivars that are resistant to late blight (see Fig. 2). In a simplified design, a reference cultivar (which is known to have a good resistance against late blight) is grown in 2-3 plots, randomly distributed in the trial field. Cultivars to be tested are grown in plots without repetition. If the reference cultivar displays a similar resistance to late blight in all repetitions, it can be assumed that environmental conditions uniformly influence the field trial. Thus, varietal differences in disease resistance, are likely to be the result of the genotype.
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