Growth and yield performance of potato cultivars raised from little tubers

Little tubers of three cultivars of potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) were produced on physiologically old seed tubers by storing them at 18±2°C and desproutillg twice during storage. These little tubers, weighing 0.3–1.0 g, were used as seed and evaluated under field conditions in comparison with normal seed tubers weighing 40–60g. Little tubers produced single stemmed plants, which were comparable to normal plants in terms of height, girth and leaves on the main stem. When little tubers were planted at 60×10 cm spacing compared to normal seed tubers planted at 60×20 cm, the number of tubers produced per m² was higher for little tubers in Kufri Bahar and Kufri Silldhuri but in cultivar Kufri Chandramukhi, there was no significant difference. Tuber yield was lower when little tubers were used as seed as compared to normal seed tubers in Kufri Chandramukhi, but, in the other two cultivars there was no significant difference in yield. Results showed that little tubers of Kufri Bahar and Kufri Sindhuri produced on physiologically old tubers during storage can be used to raise a reasonably good crop but this does not hold true for Kufri Chandramukhi.