On-Farm Trial Planting to Evaluate Elite Golden Nematode Resistant Potato Clones (Video) 

As a potato clone makes it to the later stages of a breeding program, it is important to test it in different growing environments because new cultivars need to perform well in multiple regions.  

The Cornell Potato Breeding Program evaluates elite breeding clones on local New York growers’ fields. This video demonstrates the planting process of using the farm’s equipment to plant small plots of multiple clones.  

The potato breeding program at Cornell University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, in the Plant Breeding and Genetics Section, breeds and evaluates adapted potato lines in six field locations for release or pre-release based on yield, quality, novelty, and golden nematode resistance.  

One of the goals of PAPAS is to accelerate the development of potato varieties with nematode resistance. Our team of researchers screens existing potato germplasm for new and previously identified sources of nematode resistance and combines them with economically important traits in new potato cultivars. 

Video by Pia Spychalla, Ph.D. student at Cornell University.