Improving the efficiency of potato growing in Russia

Abstract In modern conditions, for the stable and cost-effective development of large-scale potato production, it is necessary to provide agricultural enterprises and peasant (farm) farms with high-quality seed material of new promising varieties of Russian breeding. However, according to the Federal State Budgetary Institution “Rosselkhoznadzor”, the share of certified seed potatoes of foreign varieties continues to increase from 26.8% in 2004 to 86.7% in 2021, while the share of domestic varieties decreases from 66.2% to 13.3%, respectively. In order to overcome the dependence of commodity producers on the import of foreign seed material, to meet the increased requirements for the consumer and culinary qualities of potato tubers and the structure of the intended use of the crop, priority areas for improving breeding and seed production in the near future have been identified. The results of purposeful selection of new potato varieties differing in the parameters of the main economically useful features that determine their intended use in accordance with the requests of the domestic potato market are presented. A system of measures to improve the efficiency of potato growing is proposed, which provides for the development of breeding and seed production based on the use of the potential of domestic varieties and increasing the production of high-quality seed material of higher reproductions. This will speed up the transition of agricultural enterprises and peasant (farm) farms to use only certified seeds for planting at least the 2nd reproduction.