Assessment of Natural Variability in Indigenous Hirpora Potato (Solanum tuberosum) Germplasm Maintained under Temperate Conditions of Kashmir Valley
Abstract
Potato landraces maintained under local cultivation can provide useful variation for selection and conservation. The present study assessed natural variability among 25 indigenous Hirpora potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) selections under temperate conditions of the Kashmir Valley during kharif 2023. The experiment was conducted in a randomised complete block design with three replications, and growth, yield and quality traits were evaluated. Analysis of variance showed significant differences among selections for all studied traits except average tuber yield per plant. Phenotypic coefficients of variation were slightly higher than the corresponding genotypic coefficients across traits, while broad-sense heritability ranged from 73% to 94%. Genetic advance as a percentage of the mean was highest for number of tubers per plant (37.46), followed by number of stems per hill (33.17), number of eyes per tuber (29.58) and plant height (29.46). Total yield showed positive genotypic associations with average tuber yield per plant (0.8247), number of tubers per plant (0.7237), plant spread (0.3052) and number of stems per hill (0.2676). Path analysis indicated positive direct effects of average tuber yield per plant, number of tubers per plant, plant height, number of eyes per tuber and plant emergence percentage on total yield. These results indicate measurable variability within the Hirpora potato germplasm and identify traits that may assist selection and conservation of promising clones.