Shimla: The Union Agriculture Ministry has approved four new potato varieties for agricultural use as quality seed across India based on the Central Seed Committee’s recommendations to enhance the country’s potato productivity. These four new potato varieties -- Kufri Ratan, Kufri Chipbharat-1, Kufri Chipbharat-2, and Kufri Tejas -- developed by ICAR’s Central Potato Research Institute (CPRI) have been approved for seed production and multiplication across the country, an official statement said.

Kufri Ratan, a medium maturing (90 days), high-yielding (37-39 t/ha) red skin table potato variety, is suitable for North Indian plains and plateau regions like Haryana, Punjab, the plains of Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan. It produces attractive, dark red, ovoid tubers with shallow medium eyes and yellow flesh and has excellent storability. Kufri Tejas is a heat-tolerant, medium maturing (90 days) and high-yielding (37-40t/ha) variety for table potatoes. It has been notified and recommended for Indian plains, such as Haryana, Punjab, UP, Uttarakhand, for the early season and for Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, for the main season. The variety produces white cream, ovoid tubers, shallow eyes, white flesh, and has very good storability under ambient storage conditions.

Kufri Chipbharat-1 is a medium maturing (100 days), high-yielding (35-38t/ha) chip processing variety.