Potato Story
The potato's story begins about 8,000 years ago near Lake Titicaca, which sits at 3,800 m (12,500 ft) above sea level in the Andes mountain range of South America, on the border between Bolivia and Peru. There, research indicates, communities of hunters and gatherers who had first entered the South American continent at least 7,000 years before began domesticating wild potato plants that grew around the lake in abundance.
Some 200 species of wild potatoes are found in the Americas. But it was in the Central Andes that farmers succeeded in selecting and improving the first of what was to become, over the following millennia, a staggering range of tuber crops. In fact, what we know as "the potato" (Solanum species tuberosum) contains just a fragment of the genetic diversity found in the seven recognized potato species and 5,000 potato varieties still grown in the Andes.
The name potato is derived from the word ‘Batata’ that comes from the Spanish language, meaning sweet potato. Potato originated in the highlands of Andes mountain range in the areas of Mexico and Peru.
india (25 million metric tons)
India is placed 3rd in the list of major potato producing countries of the world. It produces around 25 million metric tons of potatoes that contribute to approximately 7.75 % of the world’s total produce. This crop is grown over 14 lakh tons of land in India ranking 4th among the countries having maximum area cultivated for potatoes.
Uttar Pradesh produces the maximum yield of potatoes in India producing a level of 98.21 lakh tons during 2004-05 on 4.40 lakh hectares of land. Though this state has the highest potato production level in the country, it does not enjoy the highest productivity level, which is bagged by Gujarat. The states according to their productivity levels are placed in the following list
- Gujarat (22.62 tons/hectare)
- Uttar Pradesh (22.32 tons/hectare)
- Uttaranchal (21.73 tons/hectare)
- West Bengal (21.61 tons/hectare)
Indian potato market
India is one of the highly populated nations in the world and to feed all of its population, no crop other than potato can make an impact. Potato is third most important staple crop in the world and is also largely consumed in India. Indian attachment with potato is not a historical one. Potatoes were not produced in India till in the 17th century, the Portuguese introduced this crop and cultivated it in Surat for the first time. Then on it spread over all of India quite rapidly.
Currently India is the third largest producer of potatoes in the world. The production level of the country hovers around 25 million tons. It produces around 8% of the world’s total produce. Uttar Pradesh produces the highest quantity of potatoes for India. Regarding the consumption pattern, India has a huge population to feed and that’s why has a large demand for this crop. As a result, there is a very small quantity of the potatoes left for the exports making India’s share in world exports insignificant and inconsistent. India just exports around 0.5% of the total worlds export figuring around 7200 tons of potatoes. The countries to which India export potatoes are
The imports of this crop in the country are negligible.
India currently produces around 25 million tonnes of potatoes annually. But the varieties grown here are considered inferior for preparation of French fries because their dry matter is only in the 16-18 per cent range. The high moisture content adds to d ehydration and energy costs during processing stage. As a result, they are more suited for conventional Indian cuisine and table preparations.
Dr Shekhawat said that Kufri Chipsona 1 and 2 have a dry matter of 22-23 per cent and a reducing sugar content below 100 mg per 100 grams of tuber. Further, French fries recoveries from processing these varieties were as high as 58-59 per cent.
Dr Shekhawat felt that not only were Kufri Chipsona 1 and 2 as good for French fries processing as exotic cultivars such as Atlantic, FL 1533 and FL 1625, but they were also more suited for Indian conditions.
Countries like Europe basically grow potato as a summer crop for a duration of 140-180 days under long day-lengths (14 hours) and moderate temperature variations (15-25 degrees). As against this, the varieties developed here -- including Chipsona -- are cultivated during winters and adapted for short durations (90-100 days), shorter day-lengths (10 hours) and tolerant to wide temperature variations (from 4-15 degrees at night to 25-30 degrees at daytime).
