PRODUCTION OF SEEDLING TUBERS DERIVED FROM TRUE POTATO SEED AND THEIRUSE AS SEED TUBERS IN THE SUDAN

Seedling tubers of three true potato seed (TPS) crosses raised in a se edbed soil mixture of clay, sand and dry leaves produced about 3.1 kg of seedling tubers m(-2) in the growing season of 1988-89 and between 4.3 and 5.1 kg m(-2) in 1989/90. The seedling tubers produced were sto red and their use as seed tubers was subsequently compared with the lo cally popular variety Alpha. The mean tuber yields of the hybrids rang ed between 9.4 and 11 t ha(-1) in 1990/91 and between 21.9 and 22.9 t ha(-1) in 1991/92. Mean tuber yields of cultivar Alpha were 14.3 t ha( -1) in 1990/91 and 24.1 t ha(-1) in 1991/92, showing that tuber yields comparable to those of imported seed tubers could be obtained from se edling tubers of TPS origin.