As part of the conference at the Federal Research Center for Potato named after A.G. Lorch "Breeding and original seed production: theory, methodology and practice" an interesting report was made by Vadim Leonidovich Makhanko, Director General of the Republican Unitary Enterprise SPC National Academy of Sciences of Belarus for potato and fruit growing, on potato seed production in Belarus.
Here are the main points of his speech.
The general trend in Belarus is a decrease in potato planting areas in the country since 2015. This is due to the rise in the cost of fuels and lubricants, plant protection products and other elements of cultivation technology. At the same time, the main areas are concentrated in private household plots. But the yield and gross harvest is increasing in each category of farms.
In Belarus, the genetic collection of potatoes is a national treasure. It is maintained both in test tubes and as tubers. The collection contains wild species, varieties, hybrids and samples actively used in breeding. This status of the collection makes it possible to finance its maintenance and ensure that it is properly treated.
60% of the area under potatoes in Belarus is occupied by varieties of domestic selection, the remaining 40% - by Dutch and German selection. At the same time, from domestic varieties in the top 10 positions.
The Belarusian breeding center has historically been engaged in technical varieties of potatoes, and now this area is actively developing. On the basis of the center, a plant for the production of french fries with a capacity of 4 thousand tons was launched.
One of the latest achievements of the center is Mastak variety. It took about 40 years of painstaking work to create it, resulting in a variety with unique immunity to X and Y potato viruses.
This variety is table, mid-early, contains 16,5% starch, is resistant to cancer, potato nematode, its tubers are elongated-oval, yellow with small eyes, the skin is smooth, the flesh is yellow, the flowers are red-violet. The variety is suitable for growing on light and medium soils in terms of granulometric composition, responds to an increase in the background of mineral nutrition by increasing the share of the marketable fraction, and is also highly resistant to mechanical damage.
Mostly on the territory of the republic, the ridge technology of growing potatoes is used. For each variety, its own technology is selected to reveal its maximum yield potential.
Vadim Leonidovich in his report repeatedly emphasized that the agronomist-technologist with his experience, knowledge and skills is a key figure in achieving maximum results both in the production of marketable potatoes, and in breeding work and seed production of this crop.