Potato Production in Sri Lanka A.G.C.Babu Deputy Director (Research) Agricultural Research & Development Centre Sita Eliya Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka ·Badulla ·Nuwara Eliya Total area : 65,610km2 Major Agro ecological Regions: Dry Zone Intermediate Zone Wet zone Major Potato growing districts: Nuwara Eliya Badulla Major Seasons: Yala Maha Nuwara Eliya Feb. July Sept. – Jan. Badulla June – Sept. Oct. – Feb. ·Nuwara Eliya ·Badulla

Climate in potato growing areas

Potato production in Sri Lanka District Area (ha) Production (mt) Seed requirement Yala Maha Nuwara Eliya Badulla 750 2,200 800 2,700 15,000 38,500 16,000 47,250 3,875 12,250 Total 2,950 3,500 53,500 63,250 16,125

Potato varieties cultivated Percentage Granola Arnova Rudolph Connect & Carolus Red la soda Others (Elmundo,Laperla, Sassay,Amany,Hermes etc.) 80 3 4 2 1 10 Total 100

Seed Potato Production Seed Requirement: 16,125mt DOA certified seed production: 10% Imported seeds: 10% Informal seeds: 80%

Facilities Available for seed production Tissue culture Laboratory Capacity 100,000 in-vitro plants/year Capable of meeting national demand Net house Limited capacity – 65m2 25,000 RSCC/month/variety Polytunnels 4000m2 14 mt/yr

Informal Seed Production No proper seed production A portion of ware potato Introduced Quality seed production by providing G0 Technologies adopted by the Research Station Repeated harvesting techniques: Soilless growth media 30-40 tubers/plant Aeroponic: 80-100 tubers/plant Hydroponic: 80-100 tubers/plant

Constraints seed High cost Poor quality Limitations in seed production beyond G3 Limitations in seed production of new, better varieties Limited Land for seed production Limitations in storage facilities Short term storage long term storage storage management

Objectives Use of modern technologies for high quality seed production. Provide high quality seed producing units Develop new varieties suited to different agro ecological regions of Sri Lanka.

Activities Production of virus free potato mother plants - in-vitro techniques Use of biotechnological tools for virus indexing & diagnosis of other disesases Modifications to existing hydroponic system to increase productivity Testing & implementation NFT culture Development of well-organized seed supply chain through farmer organizations

….contd Trainings (Local & Foreign) Monitoring and diagnosis of major diseases & insects in seed production sites Certification of seed potato production Trainings (Local & Foreign) meristem culture and rapid propagation of virus-free plantlet G0 production technology based on the culture medium; hydroponic and aeroponics standard cultivation technology for seed potato;  late blight forecasting techniques; winged aphid monitoring technology certification system for informal seed potato;  demonstration of standard cultivation techniques

….contd demonstrations for farmers G0 production Field multiplication of G0 Storage Facilitate farmers with necessary inputs Construction of Hydroponic system Providing storage facilities Adaptability testing of new varieties High yielding & Blight resistant Heat tolerance

Suggestions Increase capacity of G0 production Free availability of G0 Training farmers on G0 production Awareness programmes – Importance of high quality seed Research activities for Productivity increment G0 production of different varieties Efficient techniques for disease diagnosis Commercial scale G0 production

Project Impacts & Recommendations Increased availability of quality seed potato Increase national average productivity from 17.5t/ha to 20t/ha Strengthening informal seed production Towards self sufficiency in ware potato

Future Plan Establishment of village level G0 production units Increase G0 production from 1mn to 2mn tubers