Yield trials and economic analyses to select cultivars for salvage for silage production

Potato (Solabum tuberosum L.) vine and tuber yield trials were conducted to identify clones that would produce large yields of vines and tubers at the same harvest date. PSDT 17 (a parallel spindle derived tetraploid) was the best yielding clone for all years when yield trials were performed. It produced 951 and 940 quintal/ha of tubers, and 35.5 and 42.6 quintal/ha of dry vines 135 days after planting in 1976 and 95 days after planting in 1977, respectively. PSDT 41 and Kennebec were very high vine and tuber yielding clones, but did not perform consistently across years. Yields for vines and tubers were larger in 1977 than in 1976 or, as previously reported, in 1975. Total economic returns were greatest for later harvests, since the tuber harvest provided most of the return.