North America: A new potato variety to replace the Russet Burbank?

The potato industry will have plenty of choices when Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada hosts the annual potato selection event on February 14 at the Fredericton Research and Development Centre in the Canadian province of New Brunswick. Fifteen selections from the potato breeding program in Canada are available for trial, offering growers a wide range of promising new potato varieties. There are five new french fry potato varieties this year: two for the potato chip sector, six fresh market selections and two potatoes with coloured flesh. The star of the show may be a potato which, reportedly, has the potential to replace the Russet Burbank, the king of potatoes – at least in Canada and the US. This new potato variety from Canadian breeders is said to stand up well to Verticillium wilt, a soil-borne fungus that can cut into yield, especially in Atlantic Canada.  It is also less prone to tuber defects, reducing the amount of waste in the field. More