Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) is one of the most important crops for human consumption worldwide, representing an essential component for the food security of several countries. However, yield and quality are negatively affected by biotic and abiotic stresses. In this sense, the selection of potato cultivars tolerant to heat and resistant to diseases is of great importance. Our goal was to select clones suitable for the chips industry, having heat tolerance and bearing the Rx1 and Ryadg alleles, which confer resistance to Potato virus X and Potato virus Y. We evaluated 491 clones originating from 31 biparental crosses under three different seasons in terms of heat stress (without heat stress [WHS], moderate heat stress [MHS], and high heat stress [HHS]). The evaluated traits were specific gravity (SG), dry matter yield (DMY), and proportion of physiological disorders (PD). After evaluation in the WHS and MHS seasons, the presence of the Rx1 and Ryadg alleles was investigated with the help of molecular markers in the 68 clones showing the best performance, which descended from the DGN2103 and DGN4002 parental clones. To gather the genotypic values for all traits in each season, the clones were ranked according to an index based on the genotype–ideotype distance. On average of all seasons, the top 10% selected clones by the index were 9 and 0.1% higher than the Atlantic cultivar for the traits DMY and SG, respectively, and 80% lower than Atlantic cultivar for PD. In conclusion, we report the selection of potato clones suitable for industrial processing.

A crucial point in agricultural experimentation is to compare treatments with high accuracy. However, agricultural experimentation is prone to field heterogeneity, and a common source of error is the spatial variation between the plots used in an experiment. With plant breeding experiments, the high number of tested genotypes requires breeders to use large areas, which invariably increases the likelihood of spatial variation. The use of models that do not address this variation can lead to errors in selecting the best genotypes. Our goal was to evaluate the effects of two spatial models—first‐order autoregressive (AR1) and spatial analysis of field trials with splines (SpATS)—to control the spatial variation in 30 experiments from potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) breeding programs. Specifically, we sought to control for three traits: total tuber yield (TTY), marketable tuber yield (MTY), and tuber specific gravity (SG). The results obtained with the use of spatial models were compared with the base model (independent errors) based on precision, heritability, and the impact on the selection of the best clones. Spatial models were effective in controlling local and global errors and achieved greater accuracy and efficiency over the base model. The spatial approach also showed greater heritability for all analyzed traits. The spatial models led to differences in the clone ranking and consequently in the selection of the best clones. Thus, spatial analysis has the power to make more precise analyses, which leads to more accurate selections and should be used to analyze phenotype data of potato breeding programs.

RESUMO: Este texto relata os resultados de um projeto de extensão, desenvolvido por acadêmicas do curso de Agronomia do Instituto de Ciências Agrárias da Universidade Federal de Uberlândia, cujo objetivo foi desenvolver o aprendizado sobre técnicas básicas de produção, cuidados essenciais com a qualidade dos produtos, preparo e consumo de alimentos e aspectos nutricionais relativos ao consumo de hortaliças diversas por crianças entre 3 e 10 anos, alunos da Educação Infantil e do Ensino Fundamental de uma escola da rede particular de ensino de Uberlândia-MG. O trabalho estimulou o consumo das hortaliças por meio da prática da culinária, na qual as crianças produziram receitas com o que foi cultivado na horta. Além disso, o projeto incentivou hábitos saudáveis de alimentação e o consumo de produtos livres de conservantes, produzidos de forma orgânica e de alto valor nutritivo. PALAVRAS-CHAVE: Horta na escola. Hábitos alimentares saudáveis. Educação Infantil. Ensino Fundamental.