COMMERCIAL VARIETY TRIALS

AROOSTOOK FARM

2004

 

       2003—Out of storage Observations: 

 

1.   AF1866-8(russet)(Harvested Sept. 25, 2003—0.8 acres)

This variety stored well as seed in 4-20 cwt. pallet boxes at 38°F and had not sprouted prematurely by mid-April. There was more size variation in this lot, but tubers were attractive and quite well typed. No fusarium or tuber rot was present, and sunburn was minimal.

      

      2.   AF1808-18 (russet)(Harvested Sept. 25, 2003---0.3 acres)

            This variety stored well as seed in 3-20 cwt. pallet boxes at 38°F and had not 

            sprouted prematurely by mid-April. It produced fairly uniform large tubers with

            thick skin that were very attractive and had minimal blemishes. There was

            virtually no smalls in this lot. There was an absence of rot and pressure bruise.

            There was, however, a considerable amount of off-type tubers and sunburn.

            This variety developed marketable sized tubers in a shorter amount of time than

            any other variety evaluated. It may be well suited for out-of-field processing.         

          

  1. AF1758-7 (round)(Harvested Sept. 25, 2003---0.5 acres)

This variety stored well as seed in 3-20 cwt. pallet boxes at 38°F and had not sprouted prematurely by mid-April. It had nice size distribution with no blemished tubers except for an occasional pressure bruise. Yields were high. Tubers were bright and well typed. There was no sunburn or rot present in this lot. This variety should be evaluated again at Aroostook Farm in a larger scale lot.

 

  1. AF 1455-20 (round) (Harvested Sept. 26, 2003---0.3 acres)

This variety stored moderately well as seed in 2-20 cwt. pallet boxes at 38°F, with an occasional sprouted tuber at mid-April. There was more size variation in this lot, but tubers were bright with minimal blemishes. There was an occasional pressure bruise and an occasional sunburned tuber, but no rot was present.

    

  1. AF 1569-2 (round) (Harvested Sept. 26, 2003---0.4 acres)

This variety stored moderately well as seed in 4-20 cwt. pallet boxes at 38°F, but showed some sprouting by mid-April. There was more size variation in this lot and more pressure bruise than the other observed varieties, but not excessive amounts. Tubers showed some areas of darker patches but were generally sound with no rot or scab. There were no sunburned tubers in this lot.

    

  1. AF 1938-3 (round) (Harvested Sept. 26, 2003---0.4 acres)

This variety stored well as seed in 6-20 cwt. pallet boxes at 38°F, and showed no sprouting by mid-April. This is the third year of evaluations by Aroostook Farm for this variety (see previous year’s evaluations),and it has again performed very

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well, fulfilling many criteria such as yield, vigor, appearance and long term storage.  Previous years evaluations confirm this year’s observations that this                                                                                                                               

variety does very well in northern Maine. However, this variety has not done well at all in other areas of the country, and may be dropped from commercial trials at Aroostook Farm. It may not be productive to pursue a variety that would have no demand as seed in areas outside of Maine.

 

 

 

         2004—Planting, Field and Harvest Observations:   

 

         Six lots of promising clones were grown to expand available seed for commercial

         evaluation. They were fertilized with 1100 lbs. of 14-14-14-1.2, with a seed spacing  

         of 8”. Planting date was 5/20/04, top killing date was 8/21/04, and harvest date was 

         9/23/04. All six promising clones emerged well with a minimum 85%

         emergence throughout all of the lots. All lots displayed good plant vigor except

         1808-18 and 2133-17, which appeared to have intermediate plant vigor. There were

         no diseases or pests present during the growing season, and all six seed lots tested 

         clean in Florida. All of the six seed lots were top killed early to avoid disease. All

         of the eight lots below are in storage and will be evaluated in the spring of 2005.

                 

         Variety                                Planted acres       Total yield(cwt)       Yield/acre(cwt)        

        

         AF 1808-18 (russ)                    0.6                        75                             125        

         AF 2133-7 (russ)                      0.07                      10                             143

         AF 1753-16 (russ)                    0.5                        65                             130   

         AF 1758-7 (round)                   0.5                        60                             120

         AF 2211-9 (round)                   0.07                      15                             214

         AF 1938-3 (round)                   0.1                        20                             200

       

         The following lots were grown as tablestock for commercial evaluations. They were

         fertilized with 1100 lbs. of 14-14-14-1.2, with a seed spacing of 8”. Planting date

         was 5/24/04, top killing date was 9/2/04, and harvest date was 10/02/04.

 

         Variety                                 Planted acres       Total yield(cwt)         Yield/acre(cwt)

 

         AF 1758-7 (round)                   2.1                      550                             262

         AF 1938-3 (round)                   2.1                      510                             243