News on Potato Varieties and Seed from India

Central Potato Research Institute, (CPRI) Ooty in Tamil Nadu has developed two disease resistant potatoes - Kufri Sahyadri and Kufri Karan - hybrid varieties which at present showing promising results in improving yield by 25 per cent to 30 per cent at laboratory level.

Researchers of the International Potato Center (CIP) explain the difficulties small potato farmers in many states of India may face to access good-quality planting materials at affordable prices.

Even as the State Potato Mission failed to take off due to the lack of direction and apathy of the government to the project, it has expressed it desire to revalidate the contract with the International Potato Centre (CIP) for intensification of potato production.

Zephyr Peacock backed potato seeds company, Utkal Tubers, has announced the appointment of Vinod Bhat, an industry veteran as Chief Executive Officer (CEO).

Continuing its push to promote healthier variants of potatoes, FMCG major ITC is set to begin trial cultivation of red potatoes at Chandrala village of Gandhinagar district in Gujarat. Red potatoes are a variety recently launched by the company...

India's Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi announced today that he will be addressing the 3rd Global Potato Conclave at Gandhinagar, Gujarat through remote video conferencing tomorrow i.e 28th of January 2020.

Bengaluru-based potato seeds firm Utkal Tubers India plans to ramp up its annual production to 50,000 tons of high-yielding, disease-resistant seed potatoes across Gujarat, Assam, Punjab, UP, Haryana and Karnataka over the next three years.

Whether fried, baked or sliced, potato gels with nearly every dish. Its bond with Indian consumers would be further strengthened as it would come up in a new avatar and rich in antioxidants with excellent flavour.

To protect the interest of the Punjab farmers and uphold the state’s leadership position as the largest potato seed producing state in India, Punjab is planning the certification and traceability of seed potato using blockchain technology as of next year.

Indian Farmers’ movements have decided to put up a fight to ensure that farmers’ seed freedoms are not violated in any way. Many speakers also also felt that PepsiCo India should pay compensation to the Gujarat potato farmers involved.

The legal battle between a number of potato farmers in Gujarat accused of illegally growing a proprietary variety and food and beverage manufacturer PepsiCo India may be headed for an out-of-court settlement.

Leading farmers unions and rights advocacy groups have demanded that the PepsiCo immediately withdraw all legal suits it has slapped on many potato farmers in different districts of Gujarat.

PepsiCo has sued three potato farmers in Gujarat complaining that they have been illegally growing and selling a variety of potato exclusively registered to Pepsico for the use of producing its Lays potato chips.

The Odisha Government has decided to approve a major project with the International Potato Centre (CIP) focused on sustainable intensification of potato cultivation in order to achieve self-sufficiency in production in this Indian State.

James Hutton Limited, has entered into a five-year agreement with Technico Agri Sciences, a subsidiary of Indian company ITC Limited, to provide 16 potato varieties and 600 clones to be trialled and tested in India.

Snacks and beverages manufacturer PepsiCo plans to invest $5 million by 2020 to expand its sustainable farming programme in India.

In an effort to limit the spread of the Potato Cyst Nematode, the government of India has prohibited the movement of seed potatoes from Himachal, Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand and Jammu Kashmir to other states

A centre for excellence for potato-seed is all set to come up in Gujarat, through a collaboration between Indian and Dutch companies.