A new processing potato variety produced a yield of 777 cwt. per acre, which is big news indeed. This new high yielding variety numbered AFND4405-1Russ, was developed by North Dakota State University potato breeder Susie Thompson.
Carl Hoverson, a grower testing the spud on his farm near Larimore, ND, said in a report in a recent issue of Potato Bytes from the Northern Plains Potato Growers Association that if this variety does have all the qualities the processing industry wants, it will compete with the major potato producing area of the Pacific Northwest, which includes Washington, Oregon, and Idaho.
According to Thompson, AFND4405-1Russ not only is high yielding producing large tubers, it isn’t impacted by hollow heart, despite its size. On top of that, the high yields are produced in a short season. In Larimore, ND, the potatoes are usually planted the third week of April. In 2011, because of the wet and cold spring, the potatoes were planted a month later. They were harvested, however, at the same time in mid-September.
Thompson said her team is currently meristemming the AFND4405-1Russ in order to remove any viruses and other pathogens and plans to have it in trials or demonstration plots in 2012.
AFND4405-1Russ isn’t the only variety the NDSU program is working on. Other high-yielding varieties are in the pipeline.
Source: Ted Kreis, marketing and communications director, the Northern Plains Potato Growers Association, www.nppga.org.