Namugga Prossy, Niwagaba Peter, Mateeka Benon and Barekye Alex

National Agricultural Research Organisation, Uganda

 

 

Abstract: Establishment of variety performance in vitro is paramount in routine and successful micro propagation of potato. The purpose of this study was to establish the in vitro agronomic performance and mini-tuber production of potato varieties. Sixty plantlets of four farmer preferred potato varieties (Victoria, Kachpot1, Kinigi and Rutuku) were evaluated on MS media and growth characteristics were monitored on a weekly basis between 2013 and 2014. Mini-tuber production was achieved on sterile soil media in the screen house for three seasons. Victoria performed better than other varieties in vitro and as a result produced more mini-tubers (12.49) on average. The results of this study indicate that some varieties require more time in culture to achieve maximum growth while others need supplementation of MS media with pyhtohormones for particular agronomic characters.

 

Key words: micro propagation, tissue culture, potato, mini-tuber