Evaluation of potato varieties by productivity and adaptability in the conditions of the North Caucasus region

The purpose of the study is to identify new potato genotypes for breeding work with a high stable level of yield and adaptive ability, which will be used as initial parental forms. The work was carried out within the framework of the Federal Comprehensive Scientific and Technical Project "Breeding and seed production of potatoes based on modern methods of biotechnology to create domestic varieties resistant to viral diseases and adapted to the natural conditions of the North Caucasus region". The criteria for the studied indicators of varieties include overall productivity, resistance to viral and fungal diseases, the degree of degeneration, and the potential of an early harvest. In the conditions of 2021-2022 an assessment was made of 43 varieties of potatoes, different groups of maturation, and of the adaptive ability of varieties. Experimental studies were carried out in the fields of FAT-AGRO LLC, Predgorny district, Republic of North Ossetia-Alania. Phenological observations, disease resistance, biochemical determinations were carried out according to the "Research Methods for Potato Culture". The scientific novelty lies in the fact that in the conditions of the foothill zone of North Ossetia-Alania, an agroecological assessment of promising and new varieties of potatoes was carried out. According to the results of testing potato varieties in the collection nursery, the most plastic varieties of domestic and foreign originators were identified, characterized by high productivity. The marketability of the selected varieties ranged from 77 to 96 %. Studies have shown that the largest mass of tubers under a bush had varieties of medium-early and mid-ripening groups of ripeness and averaged 852.2 and 902.2 g/bush, respectively. Plant damage by wrinkled mosaic ranged from 1.6 to 11.6 %. There were no signs of damage by speckled mosaic in 20 studied varieties (20.0 %). The least damage had varieties Gala, Krepysh, Alaska - 0.7; 1.6 and 1.6 %, respectively.