Dinky

Potato

Variety Description

Variety used for comparison: 'Norland'

Summary: The lightsprout of 'Dinky' is medium sized with an ovoid shape whereas that of 'Norland' is large with a broad cylindrical shape. The lightsprout tip of 'Dinky' has a closed habit and strong anthocyanin colouration whereas' Norland' has an open habit and weak anthocyanin colouration at the tip. 'Dinky' has a light green leaf whereas it is dark green for 'Norland'. The leaves of 'Dinky' are open whereas those of 'Norland' have an intermediate openness. The waviness of the leaflet margins for 'Dinky' is absent or very weak whereas it is weak for 'Norland'. The veins on the leaflet of 'Dinky' have a shallow to medium depth whereas 'Norland' leaftlets have medium to deep veins. 'Dinky' has a taller plant height than that of 'Norland'. The plants of 'Dinky' mature mid-season whereas those of 'Norland' mature very early. The tubers of 'Dinky' are long oval in shape, have shallow eyes with a yellow colour at the base and a cream coloured flesh. The tubers of 'Norland' are short oval in shape, have eyes at a medium depth with a red colour at the base and a white flesh.

Description:

LIGHTSPROUT: medium size, ovoid, root tips few in numbers, short lateral shoots
LIGHTSPROUT BASE: strong intensity of anthocyanin colouration, absent to medium proportion of blue in the anthocyanin colouration, sparse to medium pubescence
LIGHTSPROUT TIP: large size in relation to base, closed habit, strong intensity of anthocyanin colouration, medium to dense pubescence

PLANT: foliage structure is a stem to intermediate type where foliage is open to half open and stems are clearly or partly visible, upright to semi-upright growth habit, medium maturity

STEM: medium extent of anthocyanin colouration along the entire stem

LEAF: medium outline, open, light green colour, high extent and medium intensity of anthocyanin colouration on the midrib of the upper side
SECOND PAIR OF LATERAL LEAFLETS: medium size, narrower than long width in relation to length
LEAFLETS: weak to medium presence of secondary leaflets, absent or very low frequency of coalescence of terminal and lateral leaflets, absent or very weak waviness of margin, shallow to medium depth of veins, medium glossiness of upper side, no pubescence on blade at apical rosette

INFLORESCENCE: low to medium frequency per plant, small to medium size, medium to high extent of anthocyanin colouration on peduncle
FLOWER BUD: low extent of anthocyanin colouration
COROLLA: medium size, high extent and medium intensity of anthocyanin colouration on the inner side, absent or low proportion of blue in the anthocyanin colouration

TUBER: long-oval shape, cream flesh
TUBER EYE: shallow depth, yellow at base
TUBER SKIN: red

Origin & Breeding History: The variety 'Dinky' originated from a cross between 'G84TT4110001' as the female parent and 'G89D2006003' as the male parent, made at Châteauneuf-du-Faou, France in 1994. Seed of the cross was sown, transplanted into 9 cm pots and grown in the greenhouse during the spring of 1995. One tuber was harvested and planted in the field in 1996. Four tubers were harvested and in 1997 four hill plots were planted from which 30 tubers were harvested. In 1998, 18 seed tubers were planted in the field for seed production and 4 tubers were planted in north of Portugal for testing. From 1999 to 2003, testing was conducted in France, the Netherlands, Germany, Spain and Italy. Further evaluations were conducted in all the previous countries and the United Kingdom in 2004 and 2005. Criteria used in the selection process included pest resistance, yield, cooking and frying quality, dry matter content, storability and visual impression.

Tests & Trials: Trials for 'Dinky' were conducted during the 2013 growing season in Drummond, New Brunswick. Each variety plot consisted of 60 plants grown in a single row with a row length of 18.5 metres and a row spacing of 0.9 metres between rows. Plants were spaced 0.30 metres apart. The measured characteristics were based on 10 measurements per variety. Mean differences were significant at the 5% probability level based on a paired Student's t-test.

Comparison table for 'Dinky' with reference variety 'Norland'

Plant height (cm)

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Potato: 'Dinky' (left) with reference variety 'Norland' (right)