ACCELERATED PRODUCTION OF VIRUS-FREE POTATO PLANTING MATERIAL USING A BIOREACTOR

Аннотация

Potato production is one of the key branches of crop production that determines the food security of
Kazakhstan. The Republic needs over 800,000 tons of seed potatoes per year. In addition to seed potatoes, which are
grown in Kazakhstan, about 30,000 tons of seed potatoes are imported annually, while about 80% of this volume is
imported from the Netherlands through private companies [1].
In 2018, 193.0 thousand hectares were occupied under potatoes in Kazakhstan, while the gross harvest
amounted to 3806.9 thousand tons. At the same time, the yield in 2018 was only 19.8 t/ha. While in neighboring
Uzbekistan in 2018, the yield was 33.68 t/ha, the maximum yield in New Zealand in 2018 was about 50.41 t/ha[2]. It
is known that one of the main reasons for low potato yield is low-quality seed material.
In Kazakhstan, mainly after obtaining virus-free plants in vitro through meristem culture, minitubers are
obtained from them in most technological processes; in rare cases, microtubers are obtained from meristem plants in
vitro and then minitubers from them.
Research has shown that the bioreactor can massively clone meristem plants and get full-fledged virus-free
microtubules reducing a significant proportion of manual labor, thereby reducing the impact on the result of the
human factor, reduce infections, and reduce labor costs and material costs.