Karakterisasi Morfologi Klon Kentang di Dataran Medium - Tri Handayani; Eri Sofiari; nFN Kusmana (Balai Besar Penelitian dan Pengembangan Bioteknologi dan Sumberdaya Genetik Pertanian, 2011)
Morphological Characterization of Potato Clones in the Medium Land Area. Potato, as a subtropical plant, requires low temperature for optimum growing, especially for tuber formation (18oC). In the tropical area, potato is commonly planted at highland area. Planting of potato at medium land area may cause change on its morphological characteristics. The aim of this trial was to determine the morphological characteristics of potato plant cultivated at medium land. The trial was conducted at Majalengka (600 m asl), on April until July 2009. Eleven clones were used as treatment that were arranged in Randomized Block Design with three replications. Observation was done on 12 morphological characters, based on DUS Testing Guide (TG) of Potato published by plant variety production office. Plant height was significantly different among clones, whereas main stem thickness and leaf size were not different among clones. Morphological characteristic of the potato plant cultivated in medium land area, i.e. leaf canopy structure, growth habit, stem anthocyanin color, leaf arrangement, secondary leaf existence, flower frequency and flower color varied among the genotypes. Meanwhile the intensity of green color of leaf was not significantly different among the tested genotypes. AbstrakKentang sebagai tanaman subtropis menghendaki suhu rendah untuk pertumbuhan, terutama saat pembentukan umbi yang memerlukan suhu optimum 18oC. Di daerah tropis, suhu tersebut ditemukan pada lokasi dengan ketinggian lebih dari 1.000 m dpl. Penanaman kentang di dataran medium memungkinkan terjadinya perubahan karakter morfologis. Tujuan penelitian ini adalah mengetahui karakteristik morfologi tanaman kentang yang dibudidayakan di dataran medium. Penelitian dilaksanakan di Kabupaten Majalengka (600 m dpl), dari bulan April sampai Juli 2009. Perlakuan adalah 11 klon kentang dengan dua varietas pembanding Granola dan MB 17, ditanam di lapang dalam rancangan acak kelompok, tiga ulangan. Hasil pengamatan menunjukkan bahwa tinggi tanaman berbeda nyata antarklon, sedangkan ketebalan batang utama dan ukuran daun tidak berbeda nyata. Berbagai karakteristik morfologi tanaman kentang di dataran medium yang meliputi struktur kanopi daun, kebiasaan tumbuh, pewarnaan antosianin batang, susunan daun, keberadaan daun sekunder, frekuensi bunga, dan warna mahkota bunga sangat beragam, bergantung pada genotipe. Intensitas warna hijau pada daun memperlihatkan keseragaman antar genotipe.