Lok Sabha Question No. 1349 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-12-18
Subject: Potato Research and Export Centres
Ministry: AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
Asked by: VIJAY KUMAR S.R., ASHOK SHANKARRAO CHAVAN, KUNWAR HARIBANSH SINGH, S. RAJENDRAN, T. RADHAKRISHNAN, SUDHEER GUPTA

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE

## DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH & EDUCATION

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1349 TO BE ANSWERED ON 18/12/2018

## POTATO RESEARCH AND EXPORT CENTRES

## 1349.  SHRI S.R. VIJAYAKUMAR:

SHRI ASHOK SHANKARRAO CHAVAN:

KUNWAR HARIBANSH SINGH:

SHRI S. RAJENDRAN:

SHRI T. RADHAKRISHNAN:

SHRI SUDHEER GUPTA:

Will the Minister of AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE d`f"k vkSj fdlku dY;k.k ea=h be pleased to state:

- (a) the number  of  potato  research  centre  and  potato  export centre  which  are functioning in the country at present, State/UT-wise;
- (b) the  aims  and  objectives  of  the  said  centres  along  with  their  achievements  made since their inception;
- (c) the amount of funds allocated by the Government to the said centres during each of the last three years and the current year, centre-wise;
- (d) the quantum of potato produced in the country at present, State/UT-wise;
- (e) whether the Government has provided any special incentive scheme to the farmers to encourage cultivation of potato in the country and if so, the details thereof; and
- (f) the other steps taken/being taken by the government to increase the production of potato and its export from the country?

## A N S W E R

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE d`f'k vkSj fdlku dY;k.k ea=ky; esa jkT; ea=h

## (SHRI PARSHOTTAM RUPALA)

- (a) ICAR-CPRI, Shimla is a non-profit scientific institution under the aegis of Indian Council  of  Agricultural  Research  working  exclusively  on  potato.  Presently  it  has Headquarters at Shimla and seven regional research centres in different potato growing areas of the country.

These are located in following places:

1. Modipuram (Uttar Pradesh)
2. Kufri-Fagu (Himachal Pradesh)
3. Jalandhar (Punjab)
4. Gwalior (Madya Pradesh)
5. Patna (Bihar)
6. Shillong (Meghalaya)
7. Ootacamund (Tamil Nadu)

(b) The aims and objectives of the Institute and its centres as a whole are given as under:

## Aims/Mandate

-  Basic strategic and applied research to enhance sustainable productivity, quality and utilization of potato.
-  Repository of genetic resources and scientific information on potato.
-  Transfer of technology, capacity building and impact assessment of technologies.
-  Disease-free nucleus and breeder seed potato production.
-  Coordinate research and validation of technologies through AICRP on potato.

## Objectives

-  Pre-breeding using conventional and somatic hybridization technology for development of elite populations/ genotypes.
-  Characterization  and  evaluation  of  the  germplasm  for  important  traits  and  their utilization for development of improved varieties with desired traits.
-  Diversity  analysis,  identification  of  new  genes,  alleles  and  their  utilization  for development of cultivars using biotechnological tools and techniques.
-  Production system management for enhancing productivity of water and nutrients.
-  Technologies for climate resilient production system.
-  Patho-genomics  and  plant  health  management  utilizing  diagnostics  and  biointensive management of pests and diseases including forecasting.
-  Vector dynamics and enhancing production of quality planting material.
-  Farm  mechanization,  post-harvest  management,  value  addition  and  secondary horticulture.
-  Human resource development.

## Major Achievements

During last 68 years of its existence, the institute developed need-based technologies that triggered a revolution in potato production on account of very fast growth in area and productivity.  A  few  breakthrough  technologies  and  major  achievements  of  CPRI  that helped in sustainable growth of the potato crop in India are listed below.

## Crop improvement

-  Partnered with 26 international institutes belonging to 14 countries in deciphering the complex potato genome.
-  Developed  and  released  57  potato  varieties  with  different  traits viz. late  blight resistance,  heat  tolerance,  processing  quality  (6  varieties),  multiple  resistances  to diseases and increased yield.
-  Developed & registered 23 improved breeding lines as elite genetic stocks having earliness, resistance to pest & disease and frost tolerance.
-  Developed two interspecific somatic hybrids of potato Solanumtuberosum dihaploid C-13 (+) S. etuberosum , and C-13 (+) S. pinnatisectum resistant to Potato Virus Y and late blight through protoplast fusion to overcome the sexual barriers.
-  Developed  transgenic  potatoes  with  important  agronomic  traits viz .,  late  blight durable  resistance,  reduction  of  cold  induced  sweetening,  high  protein  content, resistance  to  Potato  Virus  Y,  Potato  Apical  Leaf  Curl  Virus,  Potato  Tuber  Moth, and altered plant architecture.
-  Identified  potato  genotypes  having  multiple  resistance  genes  for  Late  Blight ( R1 & R3 ),  Potato  Virus  Y  ( Ryadg )  &  Cyst  Nematodes  ( HC , H1 & Gro1 )  using molecular markers.

## Plant protection

-  Developed late blight forecasting model.
-  Developed and standardised  virus  detection  and  diagnostic  techniques  including dipstick assay for all important viruses.
-  Replaced hazardous organomercurials chemical with the safe boric acid (3%) in seed treatment to check soil and tuber borne diseases particularly black scurf and common scab.
-  Developed IPM for management of all important diseases and pests.

## IT, GIS and Remote Sensing

-  Developed a decision support system 'Computer Aided Advisory System for Potato Crop Scheduling' (CAASPS) which helps to decide the time of planting/ harvesting considering  the  expected  yields  of  different  varieties  planted  in  different  times  in most of the potato growing regions of the country.
-  A  methodology  for  estimation  of  potato  acreage  and  production  in  the  northern Indo-Gangetic  plains  using  crop  modelling,  remote  sensing  and  GIS  has  been developed in collaboration with Space Applications Centre (ISRO), Ahmedabad.

## Seed technology

-  Development of Seed Plot Technique which enabled seed potato production in subtropical plains.
-  Annual production of about 30000 q breeder seed of about 25 commercial varieties to facilitate supply of quality potato planting material in the country.
-  Developed aeroponic technique for production of healthy seed potato.

## Crop production

-  Developed resource management strategies for major potato based cropping systems involving sequential and intercropping systems in different parts of the country to sustain the productivity of potato crop.
-  Developed nutrient use efficient (NPK and water) potato variety Kufri Gaurav.
-  Standardised fertigation system for potato which economises on water by 40-50% and fertilizer N, P and K by 25-30% in comparison to conventional furrow irrigation besides 20-30% increase in potato yield.

## Social sciences

-  Carried  out  impact  assessment  of  potato  technologies  to  estimate  socio-economic returns to research investments.
-  Dissemination  of  potato  technologies  through  various  extension  programmes  was undertaken at CPRI in order to bridge yield gap across the country.

## Storage technology

Developed elevated temperature and on-farm storage technologies for storing table and processing potatoes.

(c) The  council  allocates  consolidated  funds  for  the  Institute  and  Institute  releases funds to its centres as per their requirement. The detail of funds allocated to the Institute during each of the last three years is as under:

Amount in Lakhs

|   2016-17 |   2017-18 |   2018-19 |
|-----------|-----------|-----------|
|   5870.64 |      6435 |      6256 |

(d) State/UT wise production is given in Annexure-I .

(e) ICAR-CPRI  Headquarter  at  Shimla  with  its  seven  Regional  Stations  and  25 AICRP centres is a nationwide network located in distinct agro-climatic regions of the country catering to the needs of research and development of potato. The technologies and  varieties  developed  by  the  institute  along  with  AICRP  on  Potato  are  being disseminated to the farmers. Breeder seeds produced by the institute reach to the farmers through  seed  chain  facilitated  by  Government  agencies  which  benefit  the  farmers  to avail quality planting material. Following are the facilities available with CPRI for the benefit of farmers of potato in the country:-

-  The institute has been awarded National Accredited Test Laboratory for Certification of virus free and true to type tissue culture microplants of potato by the Department  of  Biotechnology,  Government  of  India.  Farmers/potato  growers  can avail the facility of testing planting material.
-  The  institute  has  developed  technology  of  Aeroponics  for  rapid  multiplication  of quality planting material. The technology has been commercialized.

-  Institute  has  clear  roadmap  for  developing  potato  varieties  with  multiple  disease resistant exploiting parents having different resistant genes through MAS.
-  Till now institute has developed and released 50 potato varieties with different traits viz.  late  blight  resistance,  heat  tolerance,  processing  quality  (6  varieties),  multiple resistances  to  diseases  and  increased  yield  for  the  benefit  of  farmers  and  potato growers.
-  Institute has developed technology on Micro-irrigation in potato. The technology has been adopted by potato farmers in different parts of the country, however, Gujarat may be considered a role model for adoption of modern methods of irrigation as the state  has  the  highest  adoption  of  micro-irrigation  technology  in  potato  crop. Consequently Gujarat has the highest potato productivity in India.
-  Institute  has  developed  a  decision  support  system  'Computer  Aided  Advisory System for Potato Crop Scheduling' (CAASPS) which helps to decide the time of planting/harvesting considering the expected yields of different varieties planted in different times in most of the potato growing regions of the country.
-  Institute produces 30000 q of breeder seed annually on 25 commercial varieties to facilitate supply of quality potato planting material in the country.
-  Institute  carries  out  impact  assessment  of  potato  technologies  to  estimate  socioeconomic returns to research investments.
-  Institute  disseminates  potato  technologies  through  various  extension  programmes undertaken at CPRI in order to bridge yield gap across the country.
-  Institute  has  developed  elevated  temperature  and  on-farm  storage  technologies  for storing table and processing potatoes, the benefit of which farmers can take through training and on farm demonstration.

(f) The other steps taken/being taken by the Government to increase the production of potato and its export from the country are as follows:-

-  APEDA provides financial assistance to exporters for setting up of integrated pack houses at  par  with  the  standards  of  international  requirements.    Assistance  is  also provided for setting up of quality labs, Quality Certification, HACCP, ISO, GAP etc to exporters.
-  Under the cluster development programme of Gujarat, APEDA has arranged training programmes  for  implementation  of  GAP  Certification,  on  pre  and  post  harvest practices  on  potatoes  in  the  districts  of  Gandhinagar,  Sabrakantha,  Mehsana  in March 2018.
-  APEDA has got developed the packaging standards for potatoes in bulk packing in jute, leno and corrugated boxes through Indian Institute of Packaging for the benefit of exporters.
-  Registered member exporters of APEDA including that of potato are encouraged to participate in exhibitions abroad.

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## Annexure-I

## [Part (d) of Lok Sabha USQ No.1349 for 18/12/2018]

## Production of potato in India (States/UTs-wise)

(Production in '000 Tonnes)

| STATES/UTs       | 2016-17    | 2017-18 (2 nd A. E.)   | 2017-18 (2 nd A. E.)   |
|------------------|------------|------------------------|------------------------|
| STATES/UTs       | Production | Production             | %Share                 |
| UTTAR PRADESH    | 15543.00   | 15555.53               | 30.91                  |
| WEST BENGAL      | 11052.60   | 12332.50               | 24.50                  |
| BIHAR            | 6377.71    | 6377.71                | 12.67                  |
| GUJARAT          | 3797.82    | 3835.79                | 7.62                   |
| MADHYA PRADESH   | 3461.09    | 3537.49                | 7.03                   |
| PUNJAB           | 2423.00    | 2570.67                | 5.11                   |
| HARYANA          | 896.95     | 1095.90                | 2.18                   |
| ASSAM            | 777.83     | 1072.78                | 2.13                   |
| JHARKHAND        | 668.66     | 688.77                 | 1.37                   |
| CHHATTISGARH     | 678.57     | 684.63                 | 1.36                   |
| KARNATAKA        | 507.64     | 421.86                 | 0.84                   |
| UTTARAKHAND      | 360.37     | 360.54                 | 0.72                   |
| ODISHA           | 302.22     | 298.06                 | 0.59                   |
| MAHARASHTRA      | 536.62     | 262.60                 | 0.52                   |
| RAJASTHAN        | 234.55     | 235.00                 | 0.47                   |
| MEGHALAYA        | 193.68     | 229.90                 | 0.46                   |
| HIMACHAL PRADESH | 202.44     | 200.00                 | 0.40                   |
| TRIPURA          | 143.58     | 144.46                 | 0.29                   |
| JAMMU &KASHMIR   | 130.84     | 132.15                 | 0.26                   |
| SIKKIM           | 53.51      | 107.10                 | 0.21                   |
| NAGALAND         | 65.59      | 65.02                  | 0.13                   |
| ANDHRA PRADESH   | 49.11      | 53.09                  | 0.11                   |
| TAMILNADU        | 92.73      | 42.67                  | 0.08                   |
| KERALA           | 5.30       | 4.50                   | 0.01                   |
| MIZORAM          | 1.00       | 0.93                   | 0.00                   |
| TELANGANA        | 32.78      | 0.30                   | 0.00                   |
| OTHERS           | 15.40      | 17.05                  | 0.03                   |
| TOTAL            | 48604.57   | 50327.02               | 100.00                 |

Source:

State Department of Horticulture & Agriculture

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