Five new climate and disease resilient potato varieties approved for release in Malawi

Five climate and disease resilient potato varieties developed by the James Hutton Institute-led Quikgro research project have been approved for release in Malawi by the Agriculture Technology Release Committee of the Malawian Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development. It’s hoped that the new varieties will contribute to economic growth and prosperity along the whole potato supply chain in the region. The new varieties, named Chikoka, Chitute, Khutula, Phindu and Tinyadile, are high yielding with properties favoured by consumers, including short cooking time, tuber size and shape, texture and flavour and flesh colour. Some are suitable for crisp making, whilst others are suitable for boiling or chips. All are heat and disease resilient, making them suited to production in non-traditional potato growing areas, thus increasing the area under production. The cultivars are early maturing, providing much-needed food before the maize harvest, and are tolerant to late ...