Khavaran, a New Potato Cultivar with High Yielding and Quality

The cultivar Khavaran has come out of the national potato breeding program started in 2001 and continued for ten years in the Seed and Plant Improvement Institute Karaj, Iran. The breeding methodology has initiated by selection among germplasm consisting an open pollination of the clone 397097-13. The Khavaran release included single plant selection, visual assessment, preliminary observation nursery, advanced experiments, adaptability trials, and studies on resistance to fungi, bacteria and viruses carried out in different locations in Alborz, Ardabil, Hamadan, Esfahan and Khorasan-Razavi Provinces. Khavaran cultivar yielded in preliminary, advanced, adaptability and on-farm studies was 42, 49, 24 and 20 percent higher than the check cultivar, Agria, respectively. Khavaran is resistant to PVY, PVA, PVS and PLRV as the major lost-causing potato viruses and its tuber dry mater is 4% more than Agria. It has also resistance to Fusarium sambacinum and F. Solani and produce sizable and uniform tubers as compared with Agria. Khavaran as a new potato cultivar is suitable for Spring cultivation in cold regions of Iran