An experiment was undertaken to assess the growth performance of first-generation seed tuberlets derived from True Potato Seed (TPS) under Southern Telangana’s agro-climatic conditions. Conducted during the 2022-23 rabi season at the PG Research Block, College of Horticulture, Rajendranagar, Hyderabad, the study utilized a Factorial Randomized Block Design (FRBD) with two factors. The first factor comprised three TPS entries: V1 (PRT-17A × D-150), V2 (PSL/76-6 × D-150), and V3 (KP-15C3 × D-150), while the second factor included three tuber size categories—large (S1: 64–226 g), medium (S2: 50–63 g), and small (S3: 22–49 g)—with each treatment replicated thrice.
The results showed that the V1S1 treatment (PRT-17A × D-150 with large-sized tubers) exhibited significantly superior growth characteristics. It recorded the highest plant height (40.18 cm at 30 days after planting (DAP) and 61.10 cm at 60 DAP), the greatest number of main stems (12.83), the highest count of compound leaves (11.34 at 30 DAP and 16.32 at 60 DAP), and the highest chlorophyll content (41.33 SPAD at 30 DAP and 54.92 SPAD at 60 DAP) when compared with other treatments. These findings suggest that large-sized tuberlets from TPS, particularly from the PRT-17A × D-150 cross, are highly effective for promoting enhanced growth traits in potato cultivation within the Southern Telangana agro-climatic zone.
