SCREENING OF POTATO VARIETIES FOR ARSENIC TOLERANCE

Abstract

A pot experiment was conducted at the Agronomy research field, Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University, Dhaka from November 10, 2012 to February 18, 2013 to find out the effect of 3 different Arsenic (As) levels viz., As0 (control), As1 (25 mg As kg-1 soil), As2 (50 mg As kg-1 soil) on growth, yield and quality of fourteen potato varieties viz., V1 (Diamant), V2 (Cardinal), V3 (Asterix), V4 (Granola), V5 (Lady Rosetta), V6 (Courage), V7 (BARI TPS-1), V8 (Meridian), V9 (Felsina), V10 (Laura), V11 (Quincy), V12 (Sagitta), V13 (Rumana), V14 (Jam Alu). The different levels of As had significant effect on most of the growth, yield and quality contributing parameters of potato irrespective of varieties. All parameters studied in this experiment were decreased with the increasing As levels except number of tubers hill-1, non-marketable yield plant-1, 28-45 mm and <28 mm sized tuber, total soluble solids. Among the fourteen potato varieties, the yield of potato negatively affected by As contamination. The variety ‘Felsina’ produced maximum yield plant-1 (426.2 g) whereas, ‘Jam Alu’ showed minimum yield plant-1 (77.15 g) irrespective of As levels. The variety ‘Rumana’ accumulated maximum As in peel (2.95 mg kg-1) and in flesh (0.189 mg kg-1) while, ‘Jam alu’’ loaded minimum in peel (2.31 mg kg-1) and ‘Cardinal in flesh (0.100 mg kg-1). The results showed that though most of the parameters were decreased with the increasing As levels but most of the parameters remained statistically similar up to 25 mg As kg-1 soil and thereafter drastically decreased. The results also revealed that the yield of potato varieties were decreased with increasing As levels but the accumulation of As increased with increasing As levels. In case of As accumulation, peel always accumulated maximum As than that of tuber flesh. Among the treatment combinations, ‘Felsina’ cultivated with 0 mg As kg-1 soil performed the best results and the same variety with 25 mg As kg-1 soil also showed the statistical similar results in terms of growth and most of the yield parameters. In contrary, the maximum As accumulation both in peel 6.43 mg kg-1 and in flesh 0.313 mg kg-1 were found in ‘Rumana’ at 50 mg As kg-1 soil. Though the variety ‘Felsina’ produced maximum yield but the accumulation of As was also high in peel (6.02 mg kg-1) and in flesh (0.247 mgkg-1), respectively. On the basis of As accumulation, the variety ‘Cardinal’ and ‘Diamant’ were suitable for cultivating up to 25 mg As kg-1 contaminated soil though these two varieties produced little bit lower yield (399.0 and 436.1 g plant-1, respectively) than that of ‘Felsina’ (448.8 g plant-1).