Genetic resources of potato: Flowering and fruiting behaviour in north-western plains of India*

Flower production and berry setting are the two basic requisites for TPS production. Potato germplasm consisting of 872 Andigena (Solanum tuberosum ssp. andigena), 344 Tuberosum (Solanum tuberosum ssp. tuberosum) and 319 dihaploids of Tuberosum were screened for flowering under short days for three successive years at Jalandhar. Bud Initiation was observed in most of the genotypes, but bud development leading to mature flowerswas found only in 6.0 percent genotypes of Andigena (tetraploid) and 28.2 per cent dihaploids of Tuberosum. None of the tuberosum (tetraploid) genotypes flowered. The number of genotypes which flowered regularly were only 0.6 per cent in Andigena and 11.9 per cent in dihaploids. However, none of the dihaploids produced berries, whereas 9.6 per cent of the flowering Andigena genotypes produced berries regularly and another 82.7 per cent in one or the other years. Number of seeds/berry were 28.0 to 188.4 in various genotypes and average was 98.9 seeds/berry. The results suggested that Tuberosum (tetraploid) group to which most of the cultivated potatoes belong can't be used as parents for TPS production in the plains. However, dihaploids and Andigena can be exploited for the purpose. The schemes and other aspects related to the production of TPS in plains from dihaploids and Andlgena are discussed.