Food chain majors eye hybrid potato

Global food chain majors, including McDonald's, Pepsi and McCain, have evinced keen interest in large scale production of the new hybrid potato variety, Kufri Chipsona-3, developed by Central Potato Research Institute (CPRI).

The companies are looking forward to securing the seed production rights from the authorities and entering into contract farming ventures in India at a later stage. They are planning to buy back the yield from the farmers and expand the food processing network in India.

"The US based international food chain majors such as McDonald's, Pepsi and Canadian food retailer McCain Foods have shown interest in wide range of production of the new variety of Potato, however, nothing has been decided yet," said K R Dhiman, head, crop improvement, CPRI.

For helping the nascent potato processing industry in the country, Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) is planning to market Kufri Chipsona-3 across India.

The seed will be available for the farmers in August 2006 and cultivation is expected to start in March 2007.

Earlier Kufri Chipsona-1 (Yield:278 quintal per hactare) and Kufri Chipsona-2 (Yield:272 quintal per hectare)were introduced. The new variety gives high dry matter yield than the earlier two, thus enabling the flakes industry to employ it for processing (chips and flakes) as well as table purposes.

ICAR has released another new hybrid variety Kufri Himalini with chpsona -3 for commercial cultivation in hilly regions.

"The processing industry requires a potato variety with better tuber specific gravity at the time of harvest, tuber dry matter content, chip colour and reducing sugars and Chipsona-3 is significantly better in all these quality parameters. The new variety is free from all internal and external defects," Dhiman added.

The Kufri Chipsona-3 hybrid is easy-to-cook, has excellent flavour with best aroma when boiled or baked and is free from discoloration after cooking.

The hybrid maintains excellent processing qualities even after six months of on-farm storage at intermediate temperatures, thus providing raw material to the processing industry for almost round the year.