- Title: Russia harvests virus-resistant potato at mountain altitudes
- Date: 11th October 2019
- Summary: VERKHNIY ZGID, RUSSIA (OCTOBER 5, 2019) (REUTERS) TRACTOR DRIVING, PEOPLE HARVESTING POTATO / MOUNTAIN VIEW IN BACKGROUND VARIOUS OF PEOPLE HARVESTING POTATO VARIOUS OF TRACTOR DIGGING POTATOES POTATOES IN HAND (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) AGRICULTURIST, DZAMBOLAT CHERDZHIEV, SAYING: "The advantage of these land plots is that there are no virus carrying agents here, so that is why we grow it here. However transporting such quantities of potatoes is costly, so the expenses are higher than at the low land." HARVEST IN PROGRESS VARIOUS OF PEOPLE COLLECTING POTATO VARIOUS OF TRACTOR DRIVING AS PEOPLE ARE COLLECTING POTATOES PEOPLE LOADING BOXES OF POTATO INTO TRUCK PEOPLE AND BOXES OF POTATO IN TRUCK AS TRUCK IS DRIVING VARIOUS OF MOUNTAIN VIEWS VLADIKAVKAZ, RUSSIA (OCTOBER 7, 2019) (REUTERS) GREENHOUSE VARIOUS OF PEOPLE WORKING INSIDE GREENHOUSE POTATO SPROUTS IN TEST TUBES (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) LABORATORY CHIEF OF "FAT-AGRO" FARMING COMPANY, IRINA KARDANOVA, SAYING: "We have a bank of disease-free varieties of potato in high mountains at the altitude of about 2,500 meters. We take the pieces from there and include it into the crop. Also using the facilities of our company we can recover crops." POTATO SPROUT IN TEST TUBES (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) LABORATORY CHIEF OF "FAT-AGRO" FARMING COMPANY, IRINA KARDANOVA, SAYING: "The main advantage of growing potatoes at high altitude is that there are no viruses there. There are many problems caused by viruses, it can decrease the harvest up to 60%, which is a lot if we speak about production scale." VARIOUS OF SCIENTISTS WORKING ON POTATO SPROUTS VARIOUS OF POTATO SPROUTS IN TEST TUBES
- Embargoed: 25th October 2019 11:05
- Keywords: potato potatio variety agriculture new variety of potato harvest autumn harvest
- Location: VLADIKAVKAZ AND VERKHNIY ZGID, RUSSIA
- City: VLADIKAVKAZ AND VERKHNIY ZGID, RUSSIA
- Country: Russia
- Topics: Science
- Reuters ID: LVA001B0NL6PL
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Russian scientists have found a 'paradise for potatoes', a place they call perfect for breeding new varieties and improving existing ones in the mountains of the North Caucasus.
At an altitude of 2,500 meters, seed potatoes are not threatened by viruses and harsh weather conditions, the researches say.
Fat-Argo breeds test-tube potato in laboratory conditions, then places it in protected greenhouses, and after the potato tubers are planted in the mountains by the local agriculturists.
The 'super elite' and 'elite' potatoes, grown at mountain altitudes, are the very first harvest of potato variety produced by "Fat-Argo" company. Yet, they are not going to Russian dinner tables, but are used for further planting of edible vegetables.
The quality of 'super elite' and 'elite' varieties allows farmers to grow much more potatoes during next plantings.
An agriculturist, Dzambolat Cherdzhiev, who worked in the mountains on Saturday (October 5) said the taste of 'elite' is watery, and not similar to a 'normal' potato, which farmers usually get only after the third harvest.
(Production: Kazbek Basaev, Anastasia Adasheva, Dmitry Turlyun) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2019. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None