At the end of December, the "Potato System" magazine organized a webinar dedicated to modern promising potato varieties. The webinar was attended by representatives of well-known breeding and seed companies operating in the Russian market. Each company told the audience about the benefits and features of the two varieties in their lineup.
We decided to keep this useful information for our readers by publishing it on the site as a series of articles.
The final material in this cycle is devoted to early maturing varieties KOROLEVA ANNA and LABELLA selection SOLANA... Speaker: Natalia Morozova, Head of Potato Department, German Seed Alliance.
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German Seed Alliance is a joint venture of large seed breeding companies in Germany.
Since 2011, the German Seed Alliance has been representing in Russia the interests of one of its founders - the Solana company, supplying imported seed material from Germany and the Netherlands (25 varieties of Solana selection have been added to the State Register of Breeding Achievements of the Russian Federation), as well as selling potatoes produced under the Solana license in subsidiaries and partner companies in Russia.
Every year the company plots a large number of demo experiments throughout our country (in 2020, more than 200 plots were placed in 30 regions for potatoes alone). Such work allows one to be convinced of the varietal potential, the behavior of the variety in various soil, climatic and agronomic conditions.
The variety set is quite wide, Russian potato growers are well aware of such varieties as BELMONDA, LILLI, RED LADY, RODRIGA, KOROLEVA ANNA, LYUDMILA (for processing into French fries), VERDI and OPAL (production of chips).
Today we will talk in more detail about two popular varieties of table use.
QUEEN ANNA
The variety belongs to the early group of ripeness, vegetation period: 70-80 days from the moment of emergence. In the State Register since 2015.
The variety has an ambitious name and fully justifies it. It stands out for its premium appearance, suitable for washing, cleaning, packaging. Skin color is yellow, eyes are superficial. Tubers are elongated-oval in shape, with a high degree of uniformity. The color of the pulp is yellow.
It is characterized by excellent taste. Starch content 13-15%.
The variety is multi-tuber (up to 20 pcs. Per bush), high-yielding (yield 50-65 t / ha). Marketability: 82-96%. The mass of a marketable tuber, on average, is from 84 to 140 g.
Suitable for long-term storage, excellent keeping quality - about 93%.
Features of agricultural technology:
The variety does not require pre-germination of seeds; a temperature shock is sufficient.
Shows best results on light to medium soils.
The lighter the soil, the greater the distance between the tubers. The recommended planting depth is 2-3 cm deeper than usual, with a crest height of about 18-20 cm from above.
On the territory of the Chernozem region, protection against rhizoctonia should be carried out.
It is not recommended to overfeed potatoes of the QUEEN ANNA variety with nitrogen, the dose of nitrogen fertilizers should be reduced by 20% of the norm.
Particular attention should be paid at the time of the start of harvesting: two weeks is the minimum period before the start of work after desiccation, then a trial digging must be carried out to make sure that the peel is fully formed and strengthened. Also it is not recommended to carry out cleaning at high temperatures, in the heat.
The variety is approved for cultivation in the North-West, Central, Volgo-Vyatka, Central Black Earth, North Caucasian, Middle Volga, West and East Siberian regions. Since 2021, it has been zoned for the Ural region.
The second grade in today's review - LABELLA... It belongs to the category of medium early, growing season: 75-85 days from the moment of emergence.
Has a premium look thanks to its deep deep red color. The eyes are superficial, the flesh is yellow. It is famous for its excellent taste, the starch content is 15-18%. Suitable for washing and packaging.
The variety is high-yielding (average indicators: from 46 to 60 t / ha). Tuber laying: from 14 to 18. Marketability: 91-92%. Marketable tuber mass: from 78 to 102 g.
It shows itself perfectly in long-term storage, keeping quality is 98%.
Features of agricultural technology:
The variety is suitable for growing on almost all types of soil, due to its resistance to scab and dark spot, however, on light soils during dry periods, timely watering is necessary to increase yields.
A distinctive feature of the tubers is a double skin (i.e., a skin with a sub-skin). Due to this, the variety is characterized by a relatively low sensitivity to mechanical damage, although it is still preferable to harvest it in a gentle mode.
To obtain an earlier harvest, the seed material of this variety must be germinated.
LABELLA is not sensitive to metribuzin during post-emergence treatment.
The presence of a wax layer is very important, three to four treatments with insecticides are necessary.
For seed production, it is necessary to start dressing when 30% of seedlings appear, and repeat every 7 days.
With the threat of aphid infection, the use of insecticides is indicated.
Timely treatment against Alternaria is recommended. The variety has an average resistance to late blight (5 out of 9 points), so you need to pay attention to treatments against late blight.
In order to fully realize the potential of the variety, experts advise to thicken the plantings (when grown for table purposes) and work very carefully with nitrogen. The ratio of the applied doses of nitrogen and potassium (1: 2) is very important. Do not overdo it with nitrogen to avoid the effects of cracking and the appearance of hollowness.
The variety has official registration in the Central, North Caucasian, Middle Volga and Ural regions.