Uttar Pradesh Adopts Aeroponics to Boost High-Quality Potato Seed Production

The government of Uttar Pradesh has launched aeroponic seed production centres in Kushinagar and Hapur as part of a drive to enhance the availability of high-quality potato seeds. The initiative is expected to reduce costs for growers by cutting dependence on soil-based methods, which are prone to contamination.

The Uttar Pradesh state horticulture department explained that soil is the main source of contamination, so a soil-less medium is being used at the centres.

Traditionally, seed potatoes in the state are cloned at government farms from breeder seeds supplied by the Central Potato Research Institute (CPRI), headquartered in Shimla, which operates regional centres across India, including Uttar Pradesh. However, conventional clones must be replaced after five years due to degeneration, adding to growers’ costs. Seed production typically represents about half of the total cost of potato cultivation.

The horticulture department noted that better quality seeds are essential to reducing production costs. Such seeds ensure disease resistance, genetic purity, and consistency, with each plant capable of producing 50–60 tubers for further planting.

Uttar Pradesh remains India’s leading potato producer, accounting for more than one-third of national output. Annual production in the state stands at 240 lakh metric tonnes, cultivated across seven lakh hectares. To sustain this scale of planting, more than forty quintals of seed are required per hectare.

Agra is the biggest potato-producing district. The potato belt extends from Agra to Kanpur. Around 105 lakh MT of marketable surplus from UP is sent to other states. Potatoes are cultivated in the rabi season, which is a winter cropping season, from Oct-Mar. The sowing is done in Oct-Nov and harvested in Feb-Mar.

There are 2,300 cold storages where the crop is stored and sold in the market.