The “Louisa” potato, round and rather small, was developed by the Walloon Agricultural Research Centre (CRA-W). This new potato variety is resistant to mildew, a disease that can devastate the gardens. This would be the ideal potato to make potato chips.
After 10 years of research, the CRA-W was able to develop this new variety that comes from the crossbreed of the Gasoré and the Victoria.
The Louisa potato is intended for industrial processing in order to produce potato chips. It presents all the qualities needed for such use: good yield, regular grade, round shape, high dry-matter content and an excellent coloration when cooked. Its mildew (Phytophthora infestans) resistance is clearly higher than the one of the other varieties cultivated for the potato chips production. Therefore, it completely fulfils the aim of the improvement program. “This advantageous feature enables the producer to reduce the phytosanitary treatments and consequently to improve the preservation of the environment”, explained Jean-Louis Rolot, in charge of the potato research service at CRA-W in Libramont in an interview with the Belgian national broadcaster RTBF. Finally, the new potato variety is immune to virus Y, which is another advantage, especially for seedlings production.
The CRA-W team, in charge of the potato improvement program in particular, saw its efforts materialize when the first variety was registered in the Belgian catalogue of varieties of agricultural plant and vegetable species. Far from trivial, this event represents the resumption of potato selection activities in Belgium, as the last variety registration by a Belgian breeder dates back to 1996!
In the future, other registrations will follow the path of Louisa’s: several promising clones are currently being tested in CRA-W and in partner companies active in the potato industry.