GO potato aeroponic seed production in Indonesia, producers’ perception toward the benefits and challenges

The high-quality potato seed availability in Indonesia always to be attempted continuously by Indonesian governments to encourage national potato production optimization. One of the efforts is through aeroponic potato seed production. The G0 (zero generation seed) aeroponic potato produces a better yield and healthier tuber compare to G0 conventional potato production. IVegRI has undertaken studies related to G0 potato aeroponic. The results have been disseminated and some of them have been adopted by the potato producers in various regions in Indonesia. The study aimed to investigate the potato aeroponic seed production in Indonesia based on the producers’ perception of the benefits and challenges. The study was conducted from April to December 2017, in 8 districts from 6 provinces, engaging 18 G0 aeroponic potato producers. Data were analyzed descriptively. The resulting study showed that G0 aeroponic producers perceived the production of G0 aeroponic potato as more profitable compared to G0 conventional. The advantages covered: the production was higher, the yield tuber was healthier and sterile, and also it could be produced anytime. Meanwhile, challenges faced were: initially investment cost was quite expensive, electricity installation frequently was unstable and, the challenge concocted a suitable potato aeroponic nutrition.

Food Security Communication: An Investigation into the Influence of Radio Programmes on Irish Potato Farming in Nakuru County, Kenya

The Government of Kenya recognizes Irish potato as one of the food security and nutrition crops together with maize and rice (GoK, 2017). This study sought to investigate the influence of radio programmes in promoting Irish potato farming as a contributor to food security in Nakuru County. The study looked at the period between 2012 and 2015 when most radio stations started programmes on agriculture. Purposive sampling method was used to identify four sub-counties in Nakuru County namely: Kuresoi South, Kuresoi North, Molo and Naivasha. A census of forty-eight farmers registered with the National Potato Council of Kenya between 2012 and 2015 were interviewed. Eleven agricultural extension officers from the sampled sub-counties were interviewed as key informants. The study established that Irish potato farmers listened and applied skills acquired from agricultural radio programmes to improve their farming leading to food security in Nakuru County. Information inaccuracy was revealed as one of the challenges during the study. Radio should, therefore, provide accurate information on specific varieties for specific regions so that Irish potato farming flourishes and nourishes Nakuru people.

Uji Daya Hasil Klon Harapan Kentang (Solanum tuberosum L.) IPB di Kabupaten Garut Jawa Barat

Potatoes (Solanum tuberosum L.) highly consumed in the form of vegetable and processed potato so that the needs of potatoes have not been fulfilled by domestic production. One effort to increase national potato production is to assemble high-yield varieties of potato. This study aimed to test the production of several IPB potato promising clones. This research was conducted in Garut, West Java in May to August 2016. This research used Completely Randomized Design with clone as the factor and repetition as many as three replications as the group. The planting material used was IPB Potato promising clones which consisted of PKHT 2, PKHT 4, PKHT 6, PKHT 9, and PKHT 10 and Granola and Atlantik as the comparison. The results showed that PKHT 4, PKHT 6, PKHT 9, and PKHT 10 are IPB potato promising clones that have high production equivalent to Granola and higher than Atlantik as commercial varieties. Based on physical criteria PKHT 4 and PKHT 6 suitable to be processed potato chips and PKHT 9 and PKHT 10 suitable to be vegetable potato.Keywords: atlantic, granola, potato as vegetable, processed potato

Disease-free Pre-Basic Seed Potato Production through Tissue Culture in Nepal

Pre-basic seed potatoes are disease free potato minitubers produced by transplanting pathogen free in vitro potato plantlets under protected condition in aphid-proof glasshouse and/or screen house. Double antibody sand witched - enzyme linked immuno-sorbant assay is used to test six major potato viruses, namely PLRV, PVS, PVX, PVY, PVA and PVM. Thermotherapy cum meristem tip excision techniques are used to eliminate these viruses. Virus free in vitro potato plantlets are rapidly propagated by single nodal cuttings on modified MS media. For pre-basic seed production disease free in vitro potato plantlets are transplanted in the sterile sand soil substrate under glasshouse and screen house, once in autumn season and next in spring season. Since 1990, National Potato Research Program has been producing about 200,000 pre-basic seeds annually. So far, PBS of 19 different recommended and released potato cultivars has been produced. Till date 3,465,799 PBS had been produced and 3,217,666 pre-basic seeds distributed to the different seed potato growers groups, District Agriculture Development Offices, government farms/research stations, and NGOs/INGOs for subsequent basic seed potato production. After establishment of tissue culture facilities in National Potato Research Program, the productivity of potato has been increased by 71% due to utilization of pre-basic seed potatoes.Nepal Agric. Res. J. Vol. 8, 2007, pp. 7-13DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/narj.v8i0.11564

Potato Cultivars from the Mexican National Program: Sources and Durability of Resistance Against Late Blight

The Mexican National Potato Program has produced several cultivars with high levels of field resistance. We evaluated the durability of resistance to potato late blight of a selection of 12 such cultivars using data from 1960 to the present. Data were extracted from the field notebooks located in the archives of the Mexican National Potato Program in the John S. Niederhauser Library in Toluca, Mexico. There was a trend indicating that field resistances to potato late blight of Mexican cultivars released between 1965 to 1999 were durable. At least two of the cultivars, namely ‘Sangema’ and ‘Tollocan’, have been grown on at least 4 to 5% of the potato acreage and over long periods of time without decay in levels of field resistance. Pedigrees of the 12 cultivars indicate that most of the field resistance was introgressed from Solanum demissum. Field resistance might also be derived from commonly grown land-race cultivars such as ‘Amarilla de Puebla’ and ‘Leona’. These have been grown in Mexico since about the 1780s. They have the appearance of S. andigena-derived material but their genetic background is unknown.