The objective of this study was to evaluate the relationships among tuber traits in potato progenies in the seedling generation and in the first clonal generation. The experiments were carried out at Embrapa Clima Temperado, in Pelotas, RS. Twelve potato progenies were grown as seedling generation in a greenhouse in the crop year 2010/2011 and the first field generation was grown in the crop year 2011/2012. The two trials were arranged in a randomized complete block design with tree replications of 25 seedlings per family. After harvest, tubers of each plant were evaluated for 14 phenotypic traits. Individual and joint analyses of variance were performed for the generations As well as correlation analysis between generations and path analysis for each generation. The correlations between tuber appearance and skin roughness; tuber curvature and pointing; weight and number of tubers; and eyebrow prominence and eye depth are strongly and positively correlated in the first two generations of selection. The correlation between the first two generations for eye depth, eyebrow prominence, tuber weight, tuber number, tuber curvature and tuber pointing indicates that selection for these traits can be applied in the seedling generation. Roughness and tuber curvature are the characteristics that most influence the overall appearance, thus the selection of these characters can be used to improve the tuber overall appearance.
Solanum tuberosum L.; correlations; path analysis; direct and indirect effects
