Native roots: imported potato varieties may soon be completely replaced by Ural ones. In the village of Kochnevskoe, where the selection and seed center operates, they plan to produce ten thousand tons of elite potato seeds per year. This should be enough not only for the Sverdlovsk region, but also for other regions of the country. “We have four varieties involved in import substitution: Alaska Terra, which is our variety, patents have been bought out, they were grown for us. There is also Sambo and Gulliver. Alaska is a variety with very powerful tops. He has a good yield. In greenhouses, it gives from 10 tubers, ”said Evgeny Yushkin, executive director of the selection and seed company.
Breeders grow potatoes using in-vitro technology, which means in Latin in glass. New sprouts begin to ripen in a test tube in a special nutrient medium. Then, in the laboratory, the plant is cut from cuttings, each of which produces up to eight tubers, which are subsequently planted in greenhouses. A microclimate that is comfortable for sprouts is maintained here, and the watering process is fully automated. At all stages, the potato undergoes diagnostics in order to identify diseased specimens in advance, which means obtaining seeds of the highest quality.
