EFFICIENCY OF POTATO MINI-TUBERS PRODUCTION IN PROTECTED SOIL CONDITIONS OF KOSTROMA REGION

In 2023, compared to 2019, the area for growing potatoes in the production sector of Kostroma region increased by 535 hectares or 40%, reaching 1870 hectares. Potato yields in the region demonstrated a steady tendency to lag behind the Russian average by 5.3-15.3%, which is 15.0-48.5 c/ha. According to monitoring data from the Russian Agricultural Center, the share of non-varietal potato planting material in 2019-2023 varied from 17.5% to 36.8%, the share of seed material of mass reproductions was from 4.6% to 11.1%. The biological potential of such planting material has a certain limit of tuber productivity and does not allow obtaining the maximum potato yield. To ensure high yields, it is necessary to use high-quality seed material. The production of high-quality seed material is associated with a number of difficulties due to the biological characteristics of the crop: low reproduction rate, a variety of specific pathogens, a limited viability of tubers and increased sensitivity to environmental factors at the stages of cultivation and storage. Thus, the introduction of innovative techniques in the technology of producing virus-free mini-tubers of standardized size potatoes, ensuring the maximum reproduction rate by increasing the productivity of each plant, is an urgent task. Research conducted at Kostroma Research Institute of Agriculture, a branch of A.G. Lorch Federal Research Center of Potato, showed that the greatest efficiency in the production of potato source material in protected soil conditions is demonstrated by the use of a mycorrhizal preparation. The use of this preparation made it possible to significantly increase the number of harvested quality tubers from one micro plant. Compared with the control variant, for Ariel variety, the increase was 32 potato mini-tubers per square meter, or 39.2%, and for Sadon variety - 25.6 mini-tubers per square meter, or 39%. Depending on the variety, the increase in revenue was from 768.00 to 960.00 rubles per square meter, and the increase in profit was from 732.24 to 924.52 rubles per square meter. The efficiency of the mycorrhizal preparation exceeds the control variant for Sadon variety by 39 percentage points, and for Ariel variety by 42.7 percentage points.