New Indian potato variety suitable for French fries released by CPRI

During the last six months, the Central Potato Research Institute (CPRI), Shimla, has released a new potato variety Kufri Frysona. This is the first ever potato variety from India suitable for preparation of French fries. The trials conducted on the variety have shown its suitability for cultivation in Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and [...]

Mozambique has potential to produce potato seed

Mozambique could put an end to the import of potato seed and produce it locally and needs only to make use of the agricultural and ecological conditions that some of its regions offer, said the director of the Mozambican Agrarian Research Institute (IIAM). According to Mozambican newspaper Notícias, Calisto Bias said that the mountainous region [...]

Plastic from GM potatoes underway in Germany

Field trials at the University of Rostock, Germany, are assessing genetically modified potatoes, which can be used to obtain a biodegradable plastic. Scientists at the Berlin-based university have developed a protein called cyanophycin, a biodegradable plastic, from potato tubers and leaves. According to researchers it is possible to produce biodegradable polymers (biopolymers) in plants which [...]

‘Mission’ is perfectly possible

Ridding potato crops of weed competition has become a much more complicated task this year as fewer key active ingredients are now registered and others have been restricted in their dose rates.  A novel formulation of diquat, Mission will come to the rescue of many growers, who have been forced into looking for alternative practical [...]

ISU research examines how potatoes produce high-energy storage organs

Understanding how plants produce storage organs that humans use as food would be a valuable tool for science and for a hungry world. Iowa State University researcher David Hannapel, professor in horticulture, thinks he has found a key to figuring out the process. Hannapel studies potatoes and the process that leads to tuber formation. Hannapel [...]