Assessment of field responses of potato cultivars and breeder seedlings to potato late blight epidemics

The response to potato late blight of 116 potato cultivars and breeding lines was determined in replicated trials conducted between 1980 and 1988. The index of area under the standardized disease progress curve (ASDPC), based on the cultivar Sebago, was used to rank the cultivars and to identify cultivars that had inconsistent disease responses over years. Most of the cultivars were susceptible to late blight; only 10 cultivars out of 66 currently available (including breeding lines) were judged more resistant than Sebago. Nine cultivars were identified as having inconsistent resistance over years. The index ASDPC was less variable than the relative area under the disease progress curve when the yearly disease conditions differed from the normal.