Potato is an important food crop worldwide, originating in South America. Quality seed potatoes are free from diseases and true to type. In India, seed potato production follows a system with CPRI producing breeder seed which is then multiplied through state governments and certified growers to produce certified seed for farmers. Breeder seed production at CPRI involves tuber indexing and 4 stages of multiplication under strict disease testing to produce clean seed. However, conventional seed production faces limitations like low multiplication rates and accumulation of diseases over generations. Emerging challenges include impacts of climate change and new diseases.

1. BREEDER SEED PRODUCTION OF
POTATO
Production Technology of Cool Season Vegetable Crops
APV-531
Submitted to:
Dr. Lalit Bhatt
Submitted by:
Shubham Jagga
ID: 48434

2. Introduction
• Major non-cereal food crop, ranks
4th in production in the world
• Originated in Andean region i.e.
Southern Peru and Bolivia.
• Europeans introduced potato in
India during late 16th century or
early 17th century
• The Great Famine, due to blight
in the 1845 which resulted in 1
million Irish people dying and
another 1 million migrating.
• Family Solanaceae.
• 2n=4x=48 (Autotetraploid).

3. Potato: The Hidden Treasure

4. • Area- 2.14 million ha
• Production- 51.31 million tons

6. Importance of seed in Potato
production
• Major input accounting for 40-
50% cost of cultivation
• Shortage of planting material–
no supply chain in > 50% of the
area
• Seed potato from hills: Limited
area and physiological problems
for using immediately in plains.
Good quality seed sown in good field yields in plenty

7. Seed Potato
• Potato tuber of definite size are used
for further multiplication
• Should be free from all viral diseases
• Should not have been grown in areas
where wart, cyst nematode and other
quarantine diseases are endemic
• Should be either free from soil and
tuber borne diseases or carry them
within permissible limits
• Should be of proper physiological
age.

8. Quality Seed Potato
• Quality seed potatoes are healthy(free from diseases) and
are true to type.
• About 30 viruses in potato world over but only 7 viruses
are affect the crop seriously and among them X, Y, S, M,
A, PLRV and PALCV are most damaging alone or in
combination.
• Therefore, in seed production, precautions are taken to
develop seed free of these viruses and should be true to
type.

9. Site Requirements for Seed
Production
• Freedom from soil borne pathogens like wart, cyst
nematode, bacterial wilt, black scurf, and common
scab.
• Low aphid or aphid free period of 75 days after
planting.
• The min. & max. temperature should be within 8-
28°C during crop season.
• Several seed production channels evolved.
• India is the only Asian country with a well
established, scientific seed production programme

10. Current seed requirement in Country
• Total area:2.02 mha(FAO, 2014)
• Seed rate:2.5 t/ha
• Total seed requirement:5.05 mt
• Breeder seed production by ICAR-CPRI: 3000 t

11. Problems associated with Hill grown seed
• Not of right physiological age for use in plains.
• Carries soil and tuber borne pathogens not found in
plains.
• Long distance transport
• Area in Hills is insufficient for seed production.

12. Seed Plot Technique: A way for healthy seed
potato production in plains.
Opened up possibility of producing healthy seed in the plains.
• Seed plot Technique: In 1959 by CPRI, by Dr. Pushkarnath healthy seed production in the
Indo-Gangetic plains during low aphid periods coupled with improved cultural practices.
• Presently 94% of seed potatoes from sub-tropical plains and only 6% in the hills.

14. Suitability of regions for seed potatoes

15. CPRI to produce Nucleus and breeder seed
↓
State governments to produce F1 and F2 seed
↓
Certified growers to produce Certified seed
↓
Farmers to produce table potatoes
Potato seed production system in
India

16. Breeder Seed Production
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5 Regional stations
1.Kufri(Himachal
Pradesh)
2. Jalandhar(Punjab)
3.Modipuram (U.P)
4. Gwalior(M.P)
5. Patna(Bihar)

19. A. Tuber Indexing
• It is a process of testing the selected tubers for virus freedom
by growing their eye plugs under net house/glass house.
• Elite tubers are first individually indexed against PVX,
PVS,PVA,PVY,PLRV etc. using ELISA.
• The plants for virus freedom by ELISA tested 6-7 weeks after
planting or at 6-8 leaf stage.
• Even if any plant out of 4 eye plugs is found infected the
counterpart indexed as well as their unindexed counterpart
tubers are rejected.
• The disease free tubers obtained during indexing, are used for
production of nucleus, breeder, foundation and certified seeds.

21. Stage-I Multiplication
• Healthy indexed tubers are planted
individually at wider spacing of 1m X 1m.
• Tested individually by ELISSA against 5 potato
viruses and inspected visually for mosaics and
other abnormalities.
• Produce of healthy plants is planted in next
stage.

23. Stage-II Clonal Multiplication
• Healthy produce of single hill in stage-1
planted in row as a clone (spacing 1m X
0.2m).
• Crop in this stage again tested against viruses
and inspected for visual mosaics.
• Healthy produce of stage IInd is bulked variety
wise and planted in next stage.

24. Stage-III Bulk Multiplication
• Variety wise bulked produce of stage IInd is
planted in stage IIIrd for bulk multiplication.
• Here crop is randomly checked against
contagious viruses (PVX and PVS) and
whole crop is visually inspected for mosaics.
• Healthy produce is bulked for multiplication in
next stage to produce breeders seed.

25. Stage-IV Breeder’s Seed Production
• Healthy produce of stage III is planted in stage
IV to produce breeder seed.
• Crop is also check tested and visually
inspected for disease freedom.
Note: Plants showing any symptom of virus in testing or
mosaics/varietal mixture in visual inspection in all stages are
rough out

27. Seed Production Status (tons)

28. Cultural Operations
• Give summer deep ploughings during May-June.
• Irrigate the fields well and give 2-3 harrowing sand 2-3
ploughings followed by plankings, starting10-15 days
before planting, add 20-25t FYM/ha.
Land
preparation
• Take out seed from stores during the 3rd week of
September in the plains and by the end of February/
early March in the hills for Pre –sprouting.
• Spread the seed tubers thinly under shade with diffused
light.
Seed
preparation

31. • Give one irrigation before land
preparation and planting, irrigate
immediately after planting.
• Stop irrigation at least one week before
haulms cutting
Irrigation
• The crop should be harvested only 10-15
days after haulm cutting when skin is
suitably mature.
• The tubers should be partially dried in the
field then shade dried.
Harvesting

32. Limitations of Conventional Seed
Production System
• Low rate of multiplication
• Development of 100 % healthy seed stock
from infected material is not possible
• Progressive accumulation of degenerative viral
diseases
• Several field multiplications of initial disease-
free material (7 years)

33. Future Challenges in Seed Production
• Impact of climate change on vector dynamics and
shortening of growing window
• Emerging new vectors like white fly, thrips,
A.gossypiaphids, hoppers, Psyllids.
• Emerging new virus diseases like PALCV, CMV,
PAMV, PVYn.
• Monoculture of potato as well as Increasing cropping
intensity.
• Production of quality seed in non-traditional areas.
• Scarcity of labourer in main seed potato regions .