Innovative Approaches for Enhancing Seed Potato Productivity in Harsh Climates of Western Siberia

Potatoes are a key food crop worldwide, but production in regions with short growing seasons and extreme weather remains challenging. Traditional farming techniques, an ancient agricultural method, tend to generate low outputs in colder places due to severe temperatures, inadequate soil fertility, and antiquated practices like continuous cropping and monoculture. Seed potatoes are essential for improving global food security and sustainable agriculture; nevertheless, options for producing high-quality seed potatoes are significantly constrained by geographic and climatic conditions. This study evaluated accelerated seed potato breeding methods based on apical meristem culture under the forest-steppe conditions of Western Siberia. Experiments were carried out from 2022 to 2024 on gray forest medium loamy soils, testing early cultivars Rosara and Red Scarlett alongside 28 Russian varieties of different maturation groups. Growth, tuber development, yield, marketability, taste, and disease resistance were assessed under greenhouse and open-field conditions. Results showed that greenhouse cultivation of virus-free microplants and minitubers significantly outperformed field plots, achieving yields of 77.8-87.5 t/ha, 1.4-1.7 times higher than in open ground. Two-factor ANOVA showed that 30% of the variation in yield was due to crop breed specific features and 37% was due to breeding method. Several Russian varieties, including Terra, Yuna, Gulliver, Sadon, Zumba, Zlatka, and Evpatii, demonstrated superior yield, disease resistance, and taste quality compared to standards. These findings show potential for implementation in regions with similar climatic conditions in accelerated breeding and greenhouse systems for enhancing seed potato quality and productivity in climate-stressed environments. This accelerated breeding and greenhouse system approach supports sustainable seed systems and contributes to food security strategies under increasing climate variability. Keywords: Climate change, potatoes, growth and development, tuber formation dynamics, yield and quality of seed tubers, product taste test .