New Potato Cultivars and Hybrids Recommended for Cultivation in the Middle Taiga Zone of Northeastern Europe

Abstract—A comparative field test of two potato cultivars (Zyryanets and Pamyati Polevoi) and two hybrids (1603-7 and 1657-7) was carried out in 2014–2017 in the Republic of Komi. The experimental field was characterized by highly-improved sod-podzol light-loam soil. The content of humus was 3.0–4.1%; the content of P2O5, and K2O was 500–595 and 30–170 mg/kg of soil, respectively, and pHKCl was 5.7–6.6. For all 4 years, the average yield of potatoes harvested 60–65 days after planting was 5.1–11.4 t/ha, while the average yield of standard cultivars (Udacha and Nevsky) made 7.6–9.9 t/ha. The maximum yield (11.4 t/ha) was registered for the hybrid 1657-7 and it exceeded the maximum yield of the standard cultivars Udacha and Nevsky by 50.0 and 15.1%, respectively. For cvs. Zyryanets and Pamyati Polevoi, the yield reached 10.2–8.9 t/ha. The average potato yield harvested 90–95 days after planting was 26.2–38.0 t/ha. The maximum yield (38.0 t/ha) was registered for the hybrid 1657-7; a high yield was also observed for cvs. Zyryanets (33.9 t/ha) and Pamyati Polevoi (32.0 t/ha). A high content of solid matter was observed in tubers of cvs. Zyryanets (21.7%) and Pamyati Polevoi (23.4%), while tubers of standard cultivars (Udacha and Nevsky) were characterized by 20.8 and 21.3% of solid matter, respectively. The starch content in tubers was 15.5% (cv. Zyryanets), 15.6% (cv. Pamyati Polevoi), and 14.5% (cvs. Udacha and Nevsky). The vitamin C content in tubers was the highest in the hybrid 1657 (12.5%); for cvs. Zyryanets and Pamyati Polevoi, it reached 10.0 and 10.8%, respectively, while it was 9.5 and 14.0%, respectively, for standard cultivars Udacha and Nevsky.