Published in Scientific Papers. Series A. Agronomy, Vol. LXIII, Issue 1
Written by Eduard MIKE
Planting material quality is a complex notion supported by the phytosanitary, biological and physical quality of potato tubers. Phytosanitary quality refers to health status of tubers of adherent soil to tubers through which can be transmitted a lot number of diseases caused by viruses, bacteria, mycosis and soil pests, quarantine organism phytosanitary quarantine organism transmitted by tubers and soil. Potato diseases and pests may diminish the yield through: reducing or blocking photosynthesis; reducing or blocking transport of assimilated products from leaves to tubers; stain, wriggle, necrosis of leaves and plant death; rot of tubers in the field or storage. The biological quality of the planting material is characterized by the plants’ capacity to sprout, emerge, grow and to make tubers, being influenced by physiological degeneration. Physiological degeneration is determined by high temperatures during the vegetation, by increasing the intensity of the aphids’ flight transmitting viruses, but also by the condition of storage unventilated warehouses with high temperatures and high humidity. The physical quality of potato tubers is conferred by the external appearance and the size. The tubers which have other shapes and colors nonspecific to the variety are eliminated during sorting for batching together with the tubers that present deformations or infections with different diseases and pests. Depending on the size of the tubers the density and the planting norm are established. Due to the complexity of the factors involved in the making of a planting material with appropriate biological, physical and phytosanitary characteristics and the current state of potato production at national level, specific researches were initiated aimed to increase the areas cultivated with certified potato material and implicitly increase the average productions.
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