INTRODUCTION

Availability of quality planting material has always been limitation in vegetatively propagated crops. In potato, conventional system of seed production is very effective, economical and sustainable. The conventional seed potato production technology based on “seed plot technique” is successfully going on since last four decades. It comprises of tuber indexing against all major viruses and clonal multiplication in four cycles for breeder seed. Total area under potato is 2.12 million hectare and national availability of the country is 5.00 million tones. The breeder seed produced by CPRI is supplied to various state govt. organizations for further multiplication in three more cycles' viz., foundation-1, foundation-2 and certified seed under strict health standards. However, the current status of breeder seed multiplication by the state governments is not as per the desired seed multiplication chain. The state govt. organizations multiply the breeder seed only upto Foundation-1 and producing about 15,600 tones potato seed in the country. This way there is huge shortage of certified seed in the country. By 2030, 6.38 – 7.65 million tons of certified seed will be required to plant the projected area of 2.55 million ha. Considering the seed replacement by farmers every fourth year, atleast 2.0 million tons of certified seed would be required by the year 2030. Presently, Central Potato Research Institute is producing about 3000 tons of breeder seed per annum. If this quantity of breeder seed is multiplied in three cycles (foundation 1, foundation 2 and certified) approximately 0.65 million tons of certified seed can be produced that would satisfy only 33% of seed demand. Incorporation of hi-tech seed production system coupled with advance virus detection techniques can be the only way out in fulfilling the huge demand of quality seed potatoes in the country as well as in achieving the projected targets for the year 2030. The adoption of high-tech seed production technologies developed by the Institute has led to opening of more than 20 tissue culture labs throughout the country. Several private seed companies had been taking virus-free in vitro plantlets since last several years from ICAR-CPRI, Shimla of important notified and released varieties for further multiplication in their seed production programme. As there is limited scope to increase quantity of breeder seed at ICAR-CPRI farms, due to limitation of additional availability of land/ human resource for seed multiplication therefore, possibilities are being explored with the help of SAUs/KVKs/Pvt. farmers to identify the new avenues of seed production, multiplication of breeder seed into FS-I, FS-II and Certified Seed under MoU and to produce seed through hi-tech system with the help of entrepreneurs/private companies. Seed information is a vital component of potato production programme. Frequently, documentation on seed source, quality, variety and availability is poor. This lack of information, at the very base of potato programmes, diminishes the potential of seed production activities at all levels. However, the major gain from improving seed documentation must be the long term progressive upgrading of the physical and genetic quality of seed used in national planting schemes. During the last 10–15 years computer techniques have been increasingly utilized within the field of seed supply through establishment of database systems for seed management at seed centers. An effort has been done in compilation and digitization of seed potato production and supply to different states as per the demand from Department of Agriculture and Co-operation (DAC) and other organizations. This will help the seed producers/ entrepreneurs/ pvt. organizations and policy makers for the future roadmap of seed potato production and multiplication as per the demand and supply of the potato varieties respectively.