OPTIMIZATION OF MEASURES TO INCREASE DISEASE RESISTANCE OF POTATO VARIETIES AS A FACTOR OF REDUCING ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION

Potato varieties differed in their resistance to disease. The highest resistance to Rhizoctonia violaceae and Common scab was noted in the variety Granada. The affection of tubers of this variety by Rhizoctonia violaceae did not exceed 1.3%; the affection by Common scab did not exceed 1.8%. The higher affection of potato tubers by Rhizoctonia violaceae and Common scab was noted in the early-ripening variety Laperla and did not exceed 2.2 and 2.9%. The improvement of the agro background of cultivation provided a slight reduction in tuber affection – 0.2-0.3%, respectively. The variety Memphis was characterized by lower resistance to Rhizoctonia violaceae and Common scab compared to the variety Granada, but its resistance was higher compared to the variety Laperla. The affection of potato tubers by Rhizoctonia violaceae and Common scab in this variety did not exceed 1.8 and 2.8%. The affection of plants by viral diseases, providing the annual removal of diseased plants, depended primarily on the conditions of the year of research and varietal characteristics and varied from 0.5% in the variety Granada to 0.9% in the variety Memphis, while it did not exceed 0.7% in the variety Laperla. The conducted analysis of the influence of factors on disease affection indicated a significant share of the impact of genotype resistance – from 92.5 to 96.0%, as well as of the fraction of planting material – from 3.7 to 7.0%. The influence of other factors and their interaction was not significant. Therefore, the introduction of disease-resistant varieties into production and the use of the optimal fraction of planting material will reduce the pesticide load on the environment by reducing the volume of their use.