Potato

https://agri.bot/crop-calendar/potato

Principal Rabi tuber crop of the Indo-Gangetic plains; planted after Kharif rice.

Twelve-month operations

Fertilizer schedule

Basal NPK with FYM; split N at earthing-up. Refer ICAR-CPRI (Shimla) PoP.

Pest & disease management

Late blight (Phytophthora infestans) is the most destructive disease under cool wet weather; aphids transmit viruses.

Sources

• ICAR-CPRI — Central Potato Research Institute

Frequently asked questions

What is the Seed-Plot Technique for potato in the Indo-Gangetic plains?

The Seed-Plot Technique, developed and standardised at ICAR-CPRI Shimla in the 1960s, is the backbone of seed-potato production in the sub-tropical IGP. It exploits the fact that aphid-flight activity in the plains peaks only after the first week of January, so an early-planted (first fortnight of October) seed-potato crop that is haulm-cut before the critical aphid-flight threshold — typically between 25 December and 10 January, monitored at CPRI-notified yellow-sticky-trap sites — remains largely free of aphid-vectored viruses (PVY, PLRV, PVS). The technique transformed India from a seed-potato importer into a seed-potato surplus country by the 1980s, and is mandatory for Indian Minimum Seed Certification Standard (IMSCS) seed-potato in the plains. See /cpri-potato for the full CPRI package.

Which are CPRI's most widely grown Kufri potato varieties?

Kufri Pukhraj (1998) is the single most widely grown Indian potato variety, dominant in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Assam and Jharkhand — early-maturing, high-yielding and well-suited to the short IGP Rabi window. Older workhorses include Kufri Chandramukhi (1968), Kufri Jyoti (1968), Kufri Ashoka, Kufri Bahar, Kufri Sindhuri and Kufri Lauvkar. Late-blight-resistant varieties include Kufri Girdhari and Kufri Himalini for the hills and Kufri Khyati and Kufri Mohan for the plains. The processing / chipping varieties Kufri Chipsona-1 to Kufri Chipsona-4 and Kufri Frysona are being scaled to substitute Netherlands imports in the Indian potato-chip and French-fry industry. See /cpri-potato for the full Kufri lineage.

How is late blight managed in Indian potato, and what is JHULSACAST?

Late blight (Phytophthora infestans) is managed through (a) resistant varieties — Kufri Girdhari, Kufri Himalini, Kufri Shailja for hills and Kufri Khyati, Kufri Mohan for plains; (b) a fungicide protocol — protectant contact fungicides (mancozeb, chlorothalonil) through the vegetative stage, with timely translaminar / systemic sprays (cymoxanil, metalaxyl-M, dimethomorph, mandipropamid, fluopicolide + propamocarb, oxathiapiprolin) when conducive weather is forecast; (c) JHULSACAST — a web-based late-blight forecasting system developed by ICAR-CPRI Shimla, which uses local weather data to issue location-specific blight warnings and spray-timing advisories through CPRI regional stations, state Agriculture Departments and the KVK network. See /cpri-potato for the full CPRI late-blight management strategy.

What is True Potato Seed (TPS) and where is it used in India?

True Potato Seed (TPS) is the botanical seed from potato berries, as distinct from the vegetative seed-tuber used in conventional potato propagation. ICAR-CPRI Shimla pioneered TPS research from the 1970s onwards, exploiting a ~1,000× reduction in seed rate (10 kg of seed-tubers per hectare becomes ~100 g of TPS per hectare) and complete freedom from tuber-borne viruses, bacteria and fungi. CPRI's released TPS populations include HPS-1/13, HPS-II/67, HPS-7/13, HPS-II/13 and TPS-C-3. TPS is especially useful in regions with poor cold-storage access (eastern India, NE hills, tribal pockets), in kitchen-garden and nutrition-mission potato cultivation, and for export of planting material. See /cpri-potato for details.

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