Evaluation of growth attributes in red-skinned and heat-tolerant potato hybrids (Solanum tuberosum L.)

A field evaluation of sixteen potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) genotypes, including red-skinned and heat-tolerant material, was conducted at the Research-cum-Demonstration Farm, College of Agriculture, Indira Gandhi Krishi Vishwavidyalaya, Raipur, Chhattisgarh, during the rabi seasons of 2020–21 and 2021–22. The experiments were arranged in a Randomized Block Design with four replications. Experiment I was harvested at 75 days after planting (DAP), while Experiment II was harvested at 90 DAP. Growth attributes included plant emergence, plant height, number of shoots, compound leaves and leaves per plant, and fresh and dry shoot weight. Considerable variation was reported among genotypes. In Experiment I, emergence ranged from 79.00% (Kufri Lalima) to 99.78% (P-42) in 2020–21 and from 91.70% (P-45) to 98.03% (P-42) in 2021–22; the two-season general mean was 95.02%. In Experiment II, emergence ranged from 70.00% (Kufri Lalit) to 99.99% (P-53) in 2020–21 and from 91.67% (P-45) to 98.60% (Kufri Surya) in 2021–22, with a general mean of 93.89%. Kufri Lalit recorded the greatest plant height at 45 DAP in both experiments, while Kufri Surya was the shortest. P-45 recorded the highest number of shoots per plant and compound leaves per plant among the ranges reported in the thesis narrative. Analysis of variance indicated significant genotype effects for most growth traits. The results demonstrate useful phenotypic variability for selection under the agro-climatic conditions of the Chhattisgarh plains. This paper reports values explicitly available in the thesis narrative and ANOVA tables; it does not replace unavailable genotype-wise means with estimates.