Journal on Processing and Energy in Agriculture 21 (2017) 4 207 Biblid: 1821-4487 (2017) 21; 4; p 207 - 210 Original Scientific Paper UDK: 582.926.2 Originalni naučni rad THE EFFECT OF GENOTYPE AND ECOLOGICAL CONDITIONS ON THE YIELD COMPONENTS OF POTATOES UTICAJ SORTE I AGROEKOLOŠKIH USLOVA NA KOMPONENTE PRINOSA KROMPIRA Dobrivoj POŠTIĆ*, Nebojša MOMIROVIĆ**, Zoran BROĆIĆ**, Lana UKANOVIĆ*, Ratibor ŠTRBANOVIĆ*, Dragan TERZIĆ ***, Rade STANISAVLJEVIĆ* *Institute for Plant Protection and Environment, 11040 Beograd, Teodora Drajzera 9,Serbia **Faculty of Agriculture, 11000 Beograd, Nemanjina 6, Serbia ***Institute for forage crops Kruševac, Globoder 37251, Serbia e-mail: pdobrivoj@yahoo.com ABSTRACT The research on the effect of ecological conditions and cultivars on the yield components of potatoes was conducted in Badovinci (Western Serbia) during the period 2008-2009. The following potato cultivars were included in the experiment: early (‘Cleopatra’, ‘Anushka’ and ‘Presto’), medium early (‘Kuroda’, ‘Omega’ and ‘Dita’), and medium late (‘Desiree’, ‘Roko’ and ‘Jelly’). The four- replicate field trials were set up using the standard methodology according to the random block design. The research results suggest that genotype (G) and ecological conditions (E) significantly affect all yield components of potatoes. In both years, the highest yield was recordedinthe medium late variety ‘Desiree’(28.30 t ha־¹), followed by the early variety ‘Anushka’ (26.60 t ha־¹), while the lowestyieldwas recordedin the medium early variety ‘Omega’ (13.35 t ha־¹). The results obtained show thatthehighest yieldsin Western Serbia were recorded in early varieties(‘Cleopatra’, ‘Anushka’ and ‘Presto’) and mediumlate varieties(‘Desiree’), which exhibited considerableresistance to highair temperaturesand drought stress. Key words: potato, variety, tuber, yield, drought. REZIME Komponente prinosa devet sorti krompira ispitivane su tokom 2008. i 2009. godine na lokaciji zapadne Srbije u selu Badovinci (75 m nadmorska visina, 44˚ 80' 05"N, 19˚ 35' 39"E). Za istraživanje korišćene su sledeće sorte krompira: rane (Cleopatra, Anushka i Presto), srednje rane (Kuroda, Omega i Dita) i srednje kasne (Desiree, Roko i Jelly). Sadnja je izvedena u prvoj dekadi aprila. Međuredno rastojanje bilo je 0,70 m a između biljaka u redu 0,30 m. Primenjena je standardna tehnologija gajenja krompira. Broj primarnih nadzemnih izdanaka određen je 65 dana posle sadnje krtola. Vađenje krompira izvršeno je početkom septembra kada je izvršeno i utvrđivanje broja krtola po biljci i ukupan prinos. Dobijeni rezultati ukazuju da su sorta (G) i agroekološki uslovi (E) značajno utiču na sve komponente prinosa krompira. U obe godine najveći ukupan prinos krtola zabeležen je kod srednje kasne sorte Desiree(28,30 t ha־¹), zatim kod rane sorte Anushka (26,60 t ha־¹), dok je najniži prinos krtola utvrđen kod srednje rane sorte Omega (13,35 t ha־¹). Na osnovu rezultata dvogodišnjih istraživanja uticaja sorte i agroekoloških uslova na komponente prinosa u zapadnoj Srbiji, možemo izvesti sledeće zaključke: - Sorta i uslovi sredine pojedinačno i u interakciji značajno utiču na komponente prinosa; Za dobijanje visokih prinosa krtola u uslovima zapadne Srbije možemo preporučiti rane sorte (Cleopatra, Anushka iPresto), posebno u godinama sa malom količinom padavina, kao i srednje kasnu sortu (Desiree), koja je pokazala dobru tolerantnost prema visokim temperaturama vazduha i suši. Ključne reči: Krompir, sorta, krtola, prinos, suša. INTRODUCTION The greateconomic importanceof potatoarises fromthe factthat thiscrop isgrown on78.000 ha, withan average yield(for the period2003-2013) of 11.3 t ha־¹ (FAO, 2013). Such low yields are the result of low inputs on small farms which prevail in Serbia. Theaverage potato yield in Serbiais significantlyinferior tothe potato yieldsin Europeand in the world,ranging from37.0 to 55.0 t ha־¹ (FAO, 2013). Commercial potato productionis carried outon 50.000-60.000 ha withan average yieldranging from15 to 25 t ha־¹ (Poštić et al., 2014; Broćić et al., 2016). Commercial potato yields(t ha־¹) depend on thegenetic potential ofvarieties,agroecologicalconditions, technology appliedand the length ofthe growing season, which meansthat interms ofa longerperiod of tuber bulkinglargertubersare formed andconsequently totalyields are higher (Poštić et al., 2014; Momirović et al., 2016).However, this is often notthe casein practicebecause early and middleearly varieties,characterized byearlytuber formation and fastertuber bulking, tend to producehigher yieldsthan potentially high- yieldingmediumlateandlatepotato varieties, especially under relativedrought conditions, unlessirrigation, as a compulsory cropping practice, is appliedin production (Poštić, 2013). Potato yieldsdependon the varietyand itsgeneticpotential, agroecologicalconditions, the levelof applied cropping practices, tuber viability, seed tubersize, the number ofstems per plantandthe number oftubersper plant (Bus & Wustman, 2007; Momirović et al., 2010; Poštić et al., 2012; Poštić et al., 2013; Poštić et al., 2016). Higherair temperaturesstimulatevegetativedevelopmentand reduce the tuber formation, average tuber weight, tuber yields, harvest indexand concentrationof dry matterin tubers. According to Poštić et al. (2015) soil