Scientists of the South Ural Research Institute of Horticulture and Potato Growing (Chelyabinsk) - a structural subdivision of the UrFANITs Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences - have registered a new variety of potatoes Kashtak. According to the document, the new variety is recommended for cultivation in the Ural region (Bashkortostan, Chelyabinsk, Orenburg, Kurgan regions).
The new variety is distinguished by drought resistance, stable and high yields (up to 50 tons per hectare), disease resistance and good presentation of tubers with red skin and yellow pulp. Due to the high content of dry substances, in particular starch, 17,6-19,0%, potatoes have good taste and are recommended for table use.
Kashtak is characterized by a medium semi-spreading bush with a well-developed root system and long flowering. Medium ripening (90 days). The number of tubers in the nest is 10-12 pieces. The variety is resistant to potato crayfish, golden potato nematode, late blight, common scab.
“The Kashtak variety was obtained by controlled crossing of the Raya (maternal form) and Cosmos (paternal form) varieties. The beginning of work - hybridization - was in 2002. As the most promising hybrid, it passed competitive selection in 2008-2010. And then environmental tests continued in the Chelyabinsk and Orenburg regions and the verification of the variety for inclusion in the state register. Today it is one of the most promising varieties for the Ural region. In comparison with another already known variety Spiridon (selection by YUNIISK, included in the register of breeding achievements of the Russian Federation in 2001), Kashtak has the best productivity - yields of 35 and 46 tons per hectare, respectively. In Orenburg, the new variety yielded more than 50 tons per hectare, ”said Tamara Tikhonovna Dergileva, senior researcher at the South Ural Research Institute of Horticulture and Potato Growing, co-author of the variety.
Chelyabinsk breeders spent about 20 years on the development of a new potato variety Kashtak. Today, scientists continue research and are engaged in the reproduction of seed material, which can be purchased in two years.
For reference. The South Ural Research Institute of Horticulture and Potato Growing (a structural subdivision of the UrFANITs UB RAS) was founded on the initiative of I.V. Michurin 90 years ago. Main areas of activity: fundamental and applied research in the field of breeding, seed production, technologies for the cultivation of fruit and berry crops and potatoes. Over the years, the scientists of the institute have created highly productive varieties of fruit, berry crops and potatoes, which form the basis of the zoned assortment for the zone of risky agriculture - more than 300 varieties of garden crops and 34 potatoes. In addition, technologies for industrial and amateur gardening and potato growing have been developed.