Kapurthala district of Punjab is one of the most important potato seed belts of the state. About 10,000 hectares of land in the district are under potato cultivation, of which nearly 80 per cent area is devoted to seed potato production. The seed produced in this region is supplied to various states, particularly West Bengal, Maharashtra and Karnataka. At present, Kufri Pukhraj and Kufri Jyoti are the predominant potato varieties cultivated by farmers in the district.
To share the performance of newly released high-yielding potato varieties PP-101 and PP-102 and to encourage their adoption among farmers, a Field day was organized by PAU–Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK), Kapurthala under the aegis of the Director of Extension Education, Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), Ludhiana. The programme was held on 16 January 2026 at village Nawan Thatta, Kapurthala district, at an on-farm demonstration site.
At the outset, Dr. Amandeep Kaur, Associate Professor (Vegetable Science), welcomed the participating farmers and highlighted the objective of organizing the programme at the demonstration field. She discussed in detail the salient features of the newly released potato varieties PP-101 and PP-102 and emphasized their high yield potential of 444.8 q/ha and 461.5 q/ha, respectively. Farmers were motivated to adopt these recommended varieties and to produce their own quality seed for the next season by following the seed plot technique.
The performance of these varieties was demonstrated through fifteen on-farm demonstrations conducted in different villages of the district, including Kamalpur, Biharipur, Nawan Thatta, Barindpur, Dadwindi and Dundupur. Farmers expressed satisfaction with the uniform tuber size, better yield and overall performance of the new varieties.
Dr. Bindu, Professor (Agricultural Engineering), emphasized that potato cultivation should be integrated with crop residue management machinery to improve soil health and quality of root crops. Dr. Harinder Singh, Associate Director (Training), KVK Kapurthala, informed the farmers that KVK has been producing seed of potato variety PP-102 at its farm for the last two years. He assured farmers of timely availability of quality seed and addressed various queries related to seed production, crop management and disease control. About 35 farmers from nearby villages participated in the programme and showed keen interest in adopting the newly released PAU potato varieties. The farmers appreciated the efforts of PAU and KVK for organizing the interface at the field level and providing practical exposure.The programme concluded with a vote of thanks by Mrs. Avneet Kaur Ahuja, Associate Professor (Home Science), who thanked the farmers and scientists for their active participation and cooperation in making the event successful.