The effect of pre-planting treatment with weak non-ionizing pulse fields on the productivity and quality of potato cultivars

Field research was conducted in 2021–2023 in the conditions of the Komi Republic. Tubers of 9 potato cultivars were subjected to pre-treatment with weak non-ionizing pulsed alternating electromagnetic fields (EMF). The electromagnetic effect was carried out by the TOR-bio device in the 15/5 mode (15 minutes of exposure, 5 minutes of break, three times a day before planting) with a pulse frequency of 125 Hz. The effectiveness of both a single treatment in 2023 and the consequences of annual EMF treatments of tubers of the 2022 harvest and their offspring of 2021 and 2022 were evaluated. It was found that the effectiveness of the action of an alternating electromagnetic field depended on the cultivar. In EMF-sensitive potato cultivars, an earlier appearance of mass seedlings (‘Pechorsky’, ‘Lux’, ‘Terra’) and an increase in yield by 26–75 % (‘Legenda’, ‘Lux’, ‘Mishka’, ‘Argo’) were observed. The increase in the yield of ‘Mishka’ and ‘Lux’ cultivars can be explained by a fairly significant (p≤ 0.05) increase in the number of tubers formed on the bush after EMF treatment. In the harvest of the ‘Pechorsky’ cultivar obtained in 2023 from EMF-treated tubers, an increased content of dry matter was noted in the autumn-spring storage period and starch in the autumn period. The analysis of the consequences of repeated EMF treatment of tubers revealed a positive effect on the intensity of plant development and the quality of the harvest of the ‘Pechorsky’ cultivar of local breeding, which may indicate the occurrence of stable changes in its genotype.