Genetic and Phenotypic Diversities in the Potato Population in Kosovo

Potato is an important nutritional source of Kosovo. The presence and introduction of new potato cultivars has play important role to increase the yield per unit area but, in other side had drastic reduced cultivation of native potato population. The presence and introduction of new potato cultivars in Kosovo has increased the yield per unit area but reduced the cultivation of native potato population. Indigenous potato is linked to specific adaptations to local farming system and specific agro ecological conditions. Plant material used in this research was 18 potato accessions with different origins. The experimental design was a randomized complete block (RCB) with three replicates, while the plot sizes were 4.20m2. All observation and analysis were carried out on 12 plants from each accession. All characters were measured in the field and laboratory at the normal harvest time. Morphological diversity was characterized using standard descriptors. The genetic diversity studies of the investigated potato accessions showed significant genetic variation on 17 physiological and chemical parameters, which could be largely due to that they were of different origins.