Potato

Varieties

Varieties - Varietal Programme

  • The potato breeding programme in India was initiated in 1935 at the Potato breeding Station (PBS), Shimla under the then Imperial (now Indian) Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi.
  • The programme was subsequently expanded with the establishment of the Central Potato research Institute (CPRI) in 1949.
  • Initially the efforts were made to collect samples of potato cultures already under cultivation and to assess the varietal situation in the country.
  • The studies showed that there existed confusion regarding nomenclature and description of potato varieties.
  • Often the same variety was designated by different names in different regions.
  • Different varieties with the same name were also common.
  • During a period of nearly seven years from the establishment of the PBS, 494 samples of potato varieties were collected from all parts of the undivided India. These were studied for various morphologies.

Western Himalayan Zone

  • Varietal requirement Short day adapted, early bulking, moderately resistant to late blight and frost, slow rate of degeneration.

North Central Plains

  • Varietal requirement Short-day adapted, medium maturing, moderately resistant to late blight, slow rate of degeneration.

North Eastren Plains

  • Varietal requirement Short-day, early bulking, moderately resistant to late blight, slow rate of degeneration, red skinned medium to small sized tubers (Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa and Uttar Pradesh) or white medium tubers (Assam and West Bengal).

Plateau region (Karnataka)

  • Varietal requirement Early bulking, ability to tuberose under high temperatures, resistant to bacterial wilt, tuber moth and mites, slow rate of degeneration.

South Indian hills (Karnataka)

  • Varietal requirement Early bulking, resistant to late blight and cyst nematodes

Development of improved varieties


Sindhuri

  • The CPRI started releasing improved potato varieties from the year 1958 onwards.
  • The first two varieties viz., Kufri Saved and Kufri Red were clonal selections from indigenous varieties Phulwa and Darjeeling red Round, respectively.
  • The remaining 32 varieties developed till date are hybrids.
  • These varieties are suitable for cultivation under diversified agro-climatic conditions of the country.
  • Salient features of all of these varieties are given in Table.

Salient features of the varieties bred by the Central Potato Research Institute

Cultivar Yea of Release Tuber characters and reaction to biotic and abiotic stress Region of adaptability
Kufri Kisan 1958 Large, round, white, deep eyes with prominent eye brows
North Indian Plains
Kufri Kuber 1958 Medium, oval, tapering towards crown end, white, medium deep eyes. Resistant to PLRV & immune to PVY
North Indian plains and Plateau region
Kufri Kumar 1958 Medium, oval, tapering towards heel end, white, fleet eyes. Moderately resistant to late blight
North Indian hills
Kufri Kundan 1958 Medium, round-oval, flattened, white, medium deep eyes. Moderately resistant to late blight
North Indian hills
Kufri Red 1958 Medium, round, red colour in cortex, medium deep eyes.
North eastern plains
Kufri Saved 1958 Medium, round, white, deep and picked red-purple eyes.
North Indian plains
Kufri Neela 1963 Medium, round, white, medium deep eyes. Moderately resistant to blight.
South Indian hills
Kufri Sindhuri* 1967 Medium, round, red, deep eyes. Moderately resistant to early blight and tolerant to PLRV. Slow rate of degeneration. Can tolerate temperature and water stress to some extent.
North Indian plains
Kufri Alankar 1968 Large, oblong, white, fleet eyes, tubers turn purple on exposure to light. Field immune to race "O" of late blight.
North Indian plains
Kufri Chamatkar 1968 Large, oval, slightly flattened, white fleet eyes.
North Indian plains & Plateau region
Kufri Jeevan 1968 Medium, oval, white, fleet eyes. Moderately resistant to early blight, field resistant to late blight and resistant to wart.
North Indian hills
Kufri Jyoti* 1968 Large, oval, white, fleet eyes. Moderately resistant to early and late blight, resistant to wart. Slow rate of degeneration
North and South Indian hills and North Indian plains.
Kufri Khasigaro 1968 Medium, round oval, white, deep eyes. Resistant to late blight and moderately resistant to early blight.
North eastern hills.
Kufri Naveen 1968 Medium, oval, white, fleet eyes. Field resistant to late blight and immune to wart.
North eastern hills
Kufri Neelamani 1968 Medium, oval, flattened, white, fleet eyes, tubers turn purple on exposure to light. Moderately resistant to late blight.
South Indian hills
Kufri Sheetman 1968 Medium, oval, white, fleet eyes. Resistant to frost
North western plains

Varieties/Hybrids Prevailant in Karnataka

Kufri Badshah

(Kufri Jyoti x Kufri Alankar)

Year of release

  • 1979

Morphological characteristics

Plant

  • Plants tall, erect, medium compact and vigorous, stems few, thick, uniformly coloured, well developed straight wings.

Foliage

  • Grey-green. Leaves open, rachis pigmented at base. Leaflets ovate, smooth surface with entire margin.

Flowers

  • White, moderate flowering, anthers orange-yellow, poorly developed, high pollen stainability. Stigma round and notched.

Tubers

  • White, large, oval, smooth skin, fleet eyes and dull white flesh. Tubers turn pale purple on exposure to light.

Sprouts

  • Light red

Agricultural characteristics

Adaptability

  • Parts of Gujarat, Haryana, Jammu & Kashmir, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka.

Maturity

  • Medium (100-110 days)

Yield potential

  • 50 t/ha

Dormancy

  • Medium (6-8 weeks)

Diseases

  • Moderately resistant to early and late blight. Resistant to PVX.

Dry matter

  • Medium

Consumer and Processing quality

  • Easy to cook, floury texture, mild flavour, free from discoloration after cooking. Not suitable for processing.

Kufri Chandramukhi (Seedling 4485 x Kufri Kuber)

Year of release

  • 1968

Morphological characteristics

Plant

  • Plants medium tall, spreading, open and vigorous, Stems few, thick, coloured at base with well developed wavy wings.

Foliage

  • Grey-green. Leaves open, rachis green. Leaflets ovate-lanceolate, smooth surface with entire margin.

Flowers

  • Light red-purple. Profuse flowering. Anthers lemon-yellow, poorly developed and pollen sterile. Stigma round and slightly notched.

Tubers

  • White, large, oval, slightly flattened, smooth skin, fleet eyes and dull white flesh .

Sprouts

  • Light red

Agricultural characteristics

Adaptability

  • Parts of Gujarat, Haryana, parts of Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.

Maturity

  • Early (80-90 days)

Yield potential

  • 25 t/ha

Dormancy

  • Medium (6-8 weeks)

Diseases

  • Susceptible to major diseases.

Dry matter

  • Medium

Consumer and Processing quality

  • Easy to cook, floury texture, mild flavour, free from discoloration after cooking. Suitable for dehydrated digh, vacuum puffing, instant flakes and chips.

Kufri Lauvkar (Adina x Sarkov)

Year of release

  • 1972

Morphological characteristics

Plant

  • Plants tall, erect, medium compact and vigorous, stems few, thick, uniformly coloured, well developed straight wings.

Foliage

  • Dark grey-green, leaves closed, rachis pigmented. Leaflets ovate-lancelet, smooth dull surface with entire margin.

Flowers

  • White, profuse flowering. Anthers lemon-yellow, well developed, pollen sterile. Stigma round and notched.

Tubers

  • White, large, oval, smooth skin, fleet eyes eyes with prominent eye-brows, white flesh.

Sprouts

  • Beet-root red

Agricultural characteristics

Adaptability

  • Plateau regions of Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. It can be grown both in kharif and rabi seasons. It can build up yields rapidly under warmer climate.

Maturity

  • Early (75-80 days)

Yield potential

  • 30 t/ha

Dormancy

  • Medium (6-8 weeks)

Diseases

  • Susceptible to major diseases.

Dry matter

  • Medium

Consumer and Processing quality

  • Easy to cook, floury texture, mild flavour, free from discoloration after cooking. Can be used for chip making.

Kufri Pukhraj (Craig's Defiance x JEX/B-687)

Year of release

  • 1988

Morphological characteristics

Plant

  • Plants tall, semi-erect, medium compact and vigorous. Stems few, medium thick, green with moderately developed straight wings.

Foliage

  • Dark grey-green. Leaves closed with large sized folicles, rachis green. Leaflets ovate to lanceolate smooth glossy surface with entire margin.

Flowers

  • White, moderate flowering. Anthers orange-yellow, well developed, high pollen stainability. Stigma round.

Tubers

  • White, large, oval, slightly flattened, smooth skin, fleet eyes and yellow flesh.

Sprouts

  • Blue-purple.

Agricultural characteristics

Adaptability

  • Parts of Gujarat, Haryana, parts of Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Mnaharashtra, Orissa, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.

Maturity

  • Early (79 days)

Yield potential

  • 40 t/ha

Dormancy

  • Medium (6-8 weeks)

Diseases

  • Resistant to early blight and moderately resistant to late blight.

Dry matter

  • Medium

Consumer and Processing quality

  • Easy to cook, waxy texture, mild flavour, free from discoloration after cooking. Not suitable for processing.

Kufri Swarna (Kufri Jyoti x (VTn)² 62.33.3 )

Year of release

  • 1985

Morphological characteristics

Plant

  • Tall, erect, compact and vigorous, stems few, thick with prominent wings.

Foliage

  • Dark Grey-green. Leaves closed, rachis green. Leaflets ovate to moderately pubescent, entire margin, many follicles.

Flowers

  • White. Profuse flowering. Anthers orange-yellow, well developed low pollen stainability. Stigma round.

Tubers

  • White, medium, round-oval, smooth skin, fleet eyes, white flesh.

Sprouts

  • Blue-purple.

Agricultural characteristics

Adaptability

  • South India hills

Maturity

  • Summer medium (130-135 days); autumn medium (100-110 days)

Yield potential

  • 28 t/ha

Dormancy

  • Medium (4-6 weeks)

Diseases

  • Highly resistant to both the species of cyst nematodes (Globodera rostochiensis and G.palida). Resistant to early and late blight.

Dry matter

  • Medium

Consumer and Processing quality

  • Easy to cook, texture floury, free from discoloration after cooking. Not suitable for processing.

Kufri Jawahar (Kufri Neelamani x Kufri Jyoti)

Morphological characteristics

Plant

  • Plants short, erect, compact and vigorous. stems few, thick, slightly pigmented at base with well developed straight wings.

Foliage

  • Light green. Leaves open rachis green. lateral leaflets ovate-lanceolate, terminal leaflet cordate, smooth dull surface with entire margin.

Flowers

  • White, profuse flowering. Anthers orange-yellow, well developed, low pollen stainability. Stigma round and slightly notched.

Tubers

  • Creamy white, medium size, round-oval, smooth skin, eyes fleet, pale-yellow flesh.

Sprouts

  • Blue-purple.

Agricultural characteristics

Adaptability

  • Haryana and Punjab, Plateau region of Gujarat, Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh. Suitable in intensive cropping systems.

Maturity

  • Early (80-90 days)

Yield potential

  • 40 t/ha

Dormancy

  • Medium (6-8weeks)

Diseases

  • Moderately resistant to late blight.

Dry matter

  • Medium

Consumer and Processing quality

  • Easy to cook, Waxy texture, mild flavor, free from discoloration after cooking. Not suitable for processing.

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Karnataka