Guatemala: Ministry of Agriculture to release two new potato varieties

The Ministry of Agriculture will release two new potato varieties, which will benefit producers to improve their marketing.

Ten organizations and more than 200 semi-llerists will be direct beneficiaries of the two new varieties of this tuber, which will be supplied by the Ministry of Agriculture, through the Agricultural Institute of Science and Technology.

This variety of red Loman ICTA potato resists a type of worm that affects the yield of potato crops. The other type of variety is the Palestinian ICTA, ideal for the preparation of fries, known in the productive environment as canes. It is projected that they can generate variety and venture into restaurants, which will improve their marketing and rural peasant economy.

According to ICTA’s vegetable research program coordinator, the new variety will yield 35 to 40 quintals, while normal potato production is 20 to 25 quintals.

The new varieties were researched on farms and validated on farmers’ land to assess adaptability and taste.

For Guatemala, potato is a crop of cold or temperate regions at altitudes of 1,500 to 3,600 meters above sea level.

source: canalantigua.tv