Minitubers serve as an excellent starting material for disease-less and healthy Pre-Elite seed tuber production. Nevertheless, it requires an optimum choice of production technology due to the associated high costs. Optimization and economic study were carried out using three different minituber sizes and five in-row planting distances of two industrial potato genotypes (Lady Olympia “LO” and Russet Burbank “RBB”). Two years of field data on yield and yield-related traits showed that both genotypes performed better at 26 cm intra-row spacing with large minitubers (≥ 25.1 mm). Planting of ≥ 25.1 mm minitubers resulted in the highest average tuber yield in both genotypes at a narrow planting distance of 10 cm. Minitubers of 20.1–25.0 mm and ≤ 20.0 mm produced low tuber yield at any in-row planting distance since large minitubers possess a high amount of food and energy reserves, which made them suitable for commercial seed production. Regression studies revealed a sequential decrease in tuber yield with an increase in plant spacing irrespective of minituber size. Partial budget analysis suggested that large minitubers (≥ 25.1 mm) gave maximum net returns at 22 and 26 cm in LO, while an efficient intra-row distance in RBB was 18 cm. However, if RBB was sown with minitubers of 20.1–25.0 mm, it yielded the highest economic returns at wider plant spacings (22 and 26 cm). Minitubers of ≤ 20.0 mm generated minimum benefits due to the lowest tuber yield and less net economic returns. This study revealed the importance of optimization of plant density depending on minituber size and cultivars for pre-basic seed potato production.

微型薯是无病、健康的 Pre-Elite 种薯生产的极佳起始材料。然而，由于相关的高成本，它需要对生产技术进行最佳选择。使用两种工业马铃薯基因型（Lady Olympia“LO”和 Russet Burbank“RBB”）的三种不同微型薯大小和五行种植距离进行了优化和经济研究。两年的产量和产量相关性状的田间数据表明，两种基因型在 26 厘米的行内间距和大型微型块茎（≥ 25.1 毫米）时表现更好。在 10 厘米的窄种植距离下，种植 ≥ 25.1 毫米的微型块茎导致两种基因型的平均块茎产量最高。20.1–25.0 毫米且≤ 20 的微型块茎。0 mm 在任何行内种植距离下都产生低块茎产量，因为大型微型块茎拥有大量的食物和能量储备，这使得它们适合商业种子生产。回归研究表明，无论微型块茎大小如何，随着株距的增加，块茎产量会连续下降。部分预算分析表明，大型微型薯（≥ 25.1 毫米）在 LO 的 22 和 26 厘米处获得最大净回报，而 RBB 的有效行内距离为 18 厘米。然而，如果 RBB 播种 20.1-25.0 毫米的微型薯，它在更宽的株距（22 和 26 厘米）下产生最高的经济回报。≤ 20.0 毫米的微型薯由于最低的块茎产量和较少的净经济回报而产生的效益最低。