State adopts ARC tech to cut potato production cost
Kolkata: For self-sufficiency in potato seed production, the state government has introduced Apical Rooted Cutting (ARC) technology—a move expected to reduce potato production costs for farmers by 30 per cent to 40 per cent.
“This is the first such state-led initiative in the country,” said Becharam Manna, minister in-charge of the Agricultural Marketing department. “It is the vision of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to make Bengal self-reliant in potato seed production and stop imports from Haryana, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh. We are working with the International Potato Centre (CIP), headquartered in Peru, to produce virus-free seeds using ARC technology. Our goal is to achieve full self-sufficiency by 2030,” he said.
Currently, the state requires about 3 lakh tonnes of seeds to produce 125-134 lakh tonnes of potatoes across 5 lakh hectares of farmland. Around 80 per cent of these seeds are imported from other states. “Seed suppliers often charge very high rates. Local seed production through ARC will make quality seeds available to farmers at much lower prices,” Manna added.
An Agriculture department official explained that the limited availability of tissue culture plants has been a key bottleneck in hi-tech potato seed production. ARC technology addresses this issue effectively.
ARC involves producing rooted transplants in a screen house from tissue culture plantlets. Instead of allowing the plantlets to mature into mini-tubers, cuttings are taken and rooted, which are then transplanted into fields to produce seed tubers.
On Tuesday, Manna distributed ARC-produced potato seeds among farmers of Hooghly district from the Haripal Panchayat Samity office, in the presence of senior officials and district leaders.
The potato seed production target for Hooghly has been set at 700 tonnes for 2025-26. With 90,000 hectares of potato cultivation requiring 1.5 lakh tonnes of seeds, the district aims to become self-sufficient by 2028-29, targeting 1.51 lakh tonnes of seed production.
