News on Potato Varieties and Seed from India

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.

Many Potato farmers in South-west Uttar Pradesh (Aligarh, Hathras, Mathura, Agra, Firozabad, Etawah, Mainpuri, Kannauj and Farrukhabad) - accounting for roughly a fifth of India’s total potato production have been unable to sell all their potatoes of last season.

Desarrollada en colaboración con el CIP y el CPRI, Kufri Lima, como se llama la variedad, es temprana, tolerante al calor y resistente a los virus, características muy apreciadas por los agricultores locales.

Farmers in India can expect higher yields and profits with the release of a new potato variety, Kufri Lima, developed by the International Potato Center (CIP) and the Central Potato Research Institute (CPRI)

The Potato Centre of Excellence, Punjab’s only centre of its kind being set up at Dhogri village in Jalandhar, has not been completed yet, though the deadline for the project was 2015.

The Hassan Horticulture Research Extension Station of the University of Horticultural Sciences-Bagalkot (UHS-B) in Karnataka, India, is all set to introduce 35 new varieties of potatoes in the next one to three years.

MHZPC, a 60:40 JV of Mahindra Agri Solutions Limited (MASL) and HZPC, today inaugurated its modern and state-of-the-art Aeroponic facility in Mohali. The new facility will produce the best of its kind seed potatoes by using an innovative process and latest technology.

The West-Bengal government (India) has recently abandoned its proposed potato processing unit in Hooghly's Sheoraphuli after no private company showed interest in the project.

The Odisha State Government on Wednesday signed an MoU with Utkal Tubers India Pvt Ltd to produce quality potato seeds.

The Odisha State Government’s plan to achieve self- sufficiency in seed potato production has gone for a toss with the National Seeds Corporation (NSC) and National Horticultural Research and Development Foundation (NHRDF) backing out of its commitment to produce quality seeds within the State.

In the Indian State of Karnataka, the Department of Horticulture has decided to provide certified seed potatoes to 1,000 farmers for pre-monsoon cultivation on a pilot basis.

To strengthen potato research, Punjab will set up a Centre of Excellence for Potato in Jalandhar (potato belt) in collaboration with The Netherlands, Shimla-based Central Potato Research Institute and Punjab Agricultural University