Texas A&M potato breeding trials offer reds to russets, babies to bakers

When Kelly Kuball walked the Texas A&M Potato Breeding and Variety Development Program variety display trials near Springlake recently, he was a long way from his specialty potato company in Arvin, California. Kuball said the Texas A&M potato breeding materials have the potential to provide new products for his Tasteful Selections clientele. He is looking for potatoes with unique characteristics, such as shape, color, size – “anything that might improve what we already grow and put in our bag for our customers.” Tasteful Selections concentrates mainly on baby potatoes, a rapidly growing market, he said. He has been growing and evaluating Texas A&M potatoes for seven years in California and at other Tasteful Selections growing regions on the West Coast. Dr. Isabel Vales, Texas A&M AgriLife Research potato breeder in College Station, said the breeding program’s main goal is to develop new potato varieties. She now leads the breeding program, long run by Dr. Creighton Miller. Read more