Research Article Varietal Evaluation of Potato Microtuber and Plantlet in Seed Tuber Production Md. Sadek Hossain, 1 M. Mofazzal Hossain, 2 M. Moynul Haque, 3 Md. Mahabubul Haque, 4 and Md. Dulal Sarkar 5 1 Seed Distribution Division, Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation, Dhaka, Bangladesh 2 Department of Horticulture, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University, Gazipur 1703, Bangladesh 3 Department of Agronomy, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University, Gazipur 1703, Bangladesh 4 Farm Division, Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute, Gazipur, Bangladesh 5 Department of Horticulture, Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University, Dhaka 1207, Bangladesh Correspondence should be addressed to Md. Dulal Sarkar; dulalsau 121@yahoo.com Received 28 December 2016; Revised 12 February 2017; Accepted 14 February 2017; Published 5 March 2017 Academic Editor: Maria Serrano Copyright © 2017 Md. Sadek Hossain et al. Tis is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Diamant, Asterix, and Granola varieties difered signifcantly in foliage coverage, plant height, and yield. Tey produced lower graded minituber (67.62%, 78.16% ha −1 , and 66.27% of Asterix, Granola, and Diamant varieties, resp.) as per seed rule of the National Seed Board of Bangladesh, while foliage coverage (74.38%) was the maximum in Diamant. Microtuber in feld condition showed the maximum survivability, plant height, foliage coverage, number of stems plant −1 , and SPAD value as well as yield of minituber compared to plantlet. On the contrary, microtuber derived plants of the three varieties gave the maximum yield (20.49 t ha −1 , 19.12 t/ha −1 , and 19.98 t ha −1 of Asterix, Granola, and Diamant varieties, resp.) and it was the minimum in plants of plantlets derived from all varieties (9.50 t ha −1 , 7.88 t ha −1 , and 9.70 t ha −1 of Asterix, Granola, and Diamant varieties, resp.). Microtuber derived plants produced a minimum percentage of <28 mm size of minituber compared to plantlet derived plants in case of all varieties. 1. Introduction Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) is a winter vegetable crop mainly in Bangladesh [1]. Ideal production protocols are wanted regarding microtuber induction and development, especially for Bangladeshi potato cultivars. Also, their com- parative growth and yield efciency study is the consensus at open feld condition in relation to other propagules for minituber or seed tuber production. Utilization of microtu- bers for the speedy proliferation of seed tuber is becoming an important technique [2]. Tere is signifcant uncertainty regarding the utility of microtubers for evaluation of agro- nomic characters to the commercial growers. However, the application of microtubers in germplasm conservation is extensively recognized. Microtubers in diferent grades have diferent dormancy requirements and difer widely in relative growth potential and productivity. Again, the key problems of traditional seed tuber production systems are the stumpy growth rate of feld-grown potatoes and the susceptibility to viral, bacterial, or fungal diseases increases with feld multi- plication, which are conveyed to progeny through the seed tubers. Tis is especially signifcant because the countries are unable to produce high-quality potato seed tubers [3–5]. In recent years, alternative seed production program has been developed in which the frst multiplication steps are speeded up by using in vitro plantlets [6–8], microtubers [9–11], and minitubers [12]. Microtubers are particularly convenient for handling, storage, and transportation of germplasm and for the development of disease-free materials [9, 13]. Microtuber needs to grow at least once and preferably two or three times under protected or feld conditions to produce desired lot of quality seed [14]. Although there are some protocols for in vitro microtuberization, there is also no comparative information regarding their feld performance especially for Bangladeshi potato cultivars. So the usefulness of microtu- bers will be contingent on their yield potentiality under open Hindawi International Journal of Agronomy Volume 2017, Article ID 7520297, 5 pages https://doi.org/10.1155/2017/7520297