Introduction

India's food security reached a threatening nadir during first half of 1960s when her population was increasing at an annual rate of about 2.2% but cereal production was virtually declining. Timely intervention of superior technologies and human endeavor avoided the inevitable famine and starvation, and virtually reversed the paradox of Malthusian model. Rice production more than doubled from 1961 to 1991, and wheat production almost quadrupled in that period bringing in green revolution in our country. Green revolution helped achieving food self-sufficiency, and subsequently, a growing stock of surplus food grains by the mid-1970s. However, yield gain in major cereals started leveling again by 1990s. Because of that, growth in agriculture sector faltered during 9^th plan and is declining continuously during 10^th plan. Yet the demand for cereals is expected to rise substantially in the next two decades. Because of this grim scenario, hon'ble prime minister of India urged the nation to enhance agricultural growth substantially during the 11^th five year plan. India's population is expected to reach 1.329 billion by the year 2020 (GOI, 1996). Given a per capita income growth of 3.7 per cent or more per annum, India may need nearly 300 million metric tons (MT) of cereals by 2020 (Bhalla et al., 1999). But the country's production capacity is not likely to exceed 260 million MT by that time. This implies a cereal gap of 40 million MT or more per year after 2020. The cereal gap would be even larger if higher per capita income growth is achieved. One alternative would be to fill that cereal gap through increased imports. The importation of 40–64 million MT of cereals would place a heavy burden on the country's trade balance and divert funds from more economically productive investments. The other alternative would be to diversify from cereal to other non-traditional foods (Gupta, 2002). Root and tuber crops like potato, cassava and sweet potato can be major contributing, if not principal, alternative sources of food and nutrition (Scott et al., 2000). The IMPACT model of the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) projected a demand of 44.6 million MT of potato in India by 2020 under high demand and production (HDP) growth scenario, while under business as usual (baseline) scenario it will be 37.1 million MT. The projected production under those situations would be 43.3 and 37.3 million MT, respectively. Therefore, there will be virtually no production gap for potato in India by 2020. However, if we plan to fill the cereal gap through root and tuber crops, more effort is needed to create a handsome surplus for these crops by 2020. In the following paragraphs, I would like to present the current status of food production visà-vis potato production and emphasize the strength, weaknesses, and critical gaps in respect to potato research. Based on that, a set of targets and roadmaps to achieve those targets will be discusses.

Current trends in food production

Many of the globe's major food crops including potato have reached a “yield plateau” or “yield stagnation”. Global growth rate in yield of wheat slid from 2.92 percent per year for the period from 1961 to 1979 to 1.78 percent for the period from 1980 to 1997. For maize, the rate slipped from 2.88 percent to 1.29 percent during the same period. For rice, yield growth rate have remains stable at 1.95 percent (Fig. 1). This declining production will not be a cause of concern for developed countries, where population growth has already stabilized. However, for developing countries like India, this situation may again revive the fear of Malthusian devil. Fig. 1Comparison of yield and yield growth rates of three major food crops of the world. Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), FAOSTAT Statistical Database (FAO, Rome, 1997)

In India, the situation is more or less similar to the world trends (Table 1). The yield of most of the important food crops has come to a plateau. With an annual population growth of about 1.6%, it would be very difficult to fight hunger and poverty in the times to come (Pandey and Sarkar, 2005). During 1997–98 to 2003–04, all the major food crops showed either very negligible increase or a decrease in the overall production and yield with the annual compound growth rates (ACGR) ranging between −2.83 to 1.14, except for potato where there is still increasing trend of production (Table 2). The annual compound growth rates (ACGRs) of potato production during the periods 1980–90; 1990–2000 and 2000–2003 were highest among the major food crops in India though, ACGRs have shown a decreasing trend in potato also. During recent years (i.e. 2000–2003) the ACGRs for potato were the highest for all attributes (Table 3). In the following paragraphs, I will discuss future research strategies to arrest the declining trend in potato productivity so as to make it a viable alternative for India's food security. Table 1

Production and productivity in agriculture during past 50 years. (Area: million ha, Production & consumption: million t, Yield: kg/ha)

Crop		1960–61	1970–71	1980–81	1990–91	2000–01	2001–02	2002–03	2003–04*

All food grains	Area	115.58	124.32	126.67	127.84	121.05	122.78	111.50	124.24
	Production	82.02	108.42	129.59	176.39	196.81	212.85	174.19	212.05
	Yield	710	872	1023	1380	1626	1734	1562	1707.00
Rice	Production	34.58	42.22	53.63	74.29	84.98	93.34	72.65	87.00
Rice	Yield	1013	1123	1336	1740	1901	2079	1804	2051.00
Wheat	Production	11.00	23.83	36.31	55.14	69.68	72.77	65.10	72.06
Wheat	Yield	851	1307	1630	2281	2708	2762	2619	2707.00
Oilseeds	Production	6.98	9.63	9.37	18.61	18.44	20.66	15.06	25.14
Oilseeds	Yield	507	579	532	771	810	913	710	1072.00
Sugarcane	Production	110.00	126.37	154.25	241.05	295.96	297.21	281.57	236.18
Sugarcane	Yield	45549	48322	57844	65395	68577	67370	64562	59119.00
Pulses	Production	12.70	11.82	10.63	14.26	11.08	13.37	11.14	15.24
Pulses	Yield	539	524	473	578	544	607	556	623.00
Coarse cereals	Production	23.74	30.55	29.02	32.70	31.08	33.38	25.30	37.76
Coarse cereals	Yield	528	665	695	900	1027	1131	962	1228.00
Milk	Production	20.00	N.A.	31.60	53.90	80.80	84.80	87.3*	91.1**
Fish	Production	1.16	1.76	2.44	3.84	5.66	5.96	6.20*	N.A.
Irrigated area		27.98	38.19	49.78	62.47	75.14*	N.A.	N.A.	N.A.
Fertiliser consumption		0.29	2.17	5.52	12.55	16.70	17.36	16.09	N.A.
Per capita availability of food grains (g/day)		449.60	455.01	410.40	472.60	454.40	416.20	492.20*	436.30*

Note: N.A. Not available,
* Provisional,
** Anticipated

Table 2

Annual compound growth rates (%) of different crops (1997–98 to 2003–04)

Crop	Production	Yield

All food grains	−0.01	0.79
Potato	2.69	2.40
Rice	−0.50	0.54
Wheat	0.06	0.98
Oilseeds	−1.78	1.14
Sugarcane	−1.99	−2.83
Pulses	−0.37	−0.09

(Source: DES, MoA, Govt. of India and IASRI, New Delhi)

Table 3

Annual compound growth rates (ACGRs) for major food crops during 1980–81 to 2002–2003 (Base: TE 1981–82 = 100)

Crop	ACGRs during			ACGRs during			ACGRs during
	1980–81 to 1989–90			1990–91 to 1999–2000			2000–01 to 2002–2003

	A*	P	Y	A	P	Y	A	P	Y

Rice	0.41	3.62	3.19	0.62	1.90	1.27	−4.98	−5.60	−0.72
Wheat	0.46	3.57	3.10	1.67	3.81	2.11	−1.00	−0.28	0.73
Total foodgrains	−0.23	2.85	2.74	−0.17	1.94	1.52	−3.36	−3.73	−0.67
Potato	2.90	5.17	2.20	3.72	5.19	1.41	−0.18	3.48	3.65

* A = Area; P = Production and Y = Yield
(Source: DES, MoA, Govt. of India)

Research priorities for potato

The emphasis in potato research in India in the past had been on the development of high yielding varieties, standardization of packages of practices, increasing availability of disease-free seed and plant protection mainly through chemicals for sustaining growth in potato production. However, certain areas received relatively less importance, considering the problems of the crop at that time. Those neglected areas need to be addressed now in light of the changed national/international scenarios. Some of these areas are:

Improvement

The historical analysis of yield gains asserts that wise use of genetic diversity has been paramount in raising the yield ceiling and expanding genetic variability. It is needed that yield potential per se should be combined with both abiotic and biotic tolerances in the breeding of future cultivars. The erosion of high yield potential should be avoided at all costs through a protective shield of wide-spectrum disease resistance genes. For sustaining potato production and productivity in the country, continued efforts are needed to develop varieties that are early bulking; field resistant to late blight; tolerant to viruses, higher temperature, abiotic stresses and suitable for processing. Now we are at the cross-roads where concerted efforts are needed to develop internationally acceptable varieties which produce medium-big oblong tubers having yellow flesh, uniform distribution of dry matter, less black spot bruising, lesser glycoalkaloids, longer shelf life and firm cooking quality. Growing demand for “baby potatoes” and “organically grown potatoes” calls for development of varieties and technologies suited for these purposes. The ease with which processed potato products are exported, there is an urgent need to accelerate development of different types of varieties that can be grown in varied agro-climates of the country and processed into different products particularly for French fries.

For the last 50 years we have been collecting genetic resources from various sources. But we have not made serious efforts to acclimatize the gene pool to our agro-climate through recurrent mass selections. Most of our potato cultivation is done under short days of sub-tropical plains. In this regard Solanum tuberosum subsp. andigena, which is adapted to short days, have good keeping quality, long dormancy, contains high dry matter and resistance to several biotic and abiotic stresses is a very valuable material. A full-fledged long term (12–15 years) population improvement programme using recurrent selection needs to be initiated to develop improved material for use as parental lines in various breeding programmes in future.

Another important population development programme would be breeding at diploid level. Conventionally potato is bred at tetraploid level. Heterozygosity and inbreeding depression makes this breeding highly inefficient. In contrast, gene management at diploid level is much easier. With the available technologies it is possible to enrich gene pool at diploid level through recurrent mass selection for several generations, and finally use selected parental lines to introgress valuable genes into cultivated potatoes.

Production

Although, potato productivity in India is little better than world average, it is much lower than many countries of Europe and America. Potato crop in those temperate countries is grown under long days and long growing season of 160–180 days. In contrast, majority of the crop in India is grown in sub-tropical plains under short days and short growing season of 90 days. Low productivity can also be attributed to the fact that potato in India is produced by small and marginal farmers on small holdings. Levels of adoption of improved varieties and technologies are also variable in different parts of the country. This has resulted in alarming productivity gaps in different states. These gaps need to be narrowed through development of efficient farming practices including intensive farming and use of modern techniques such as simulation modelling and expert systems. Excessive use of chemical fertilizers and irrigation water has led to the development of sick soils and environmental degradation in many parts of the country. This calls for immediate attention on integrated use of water and nutrients in cropping systems. Potato is a high input high return crop, therefore, to make potato production globally competitive we have to reduce cost of potato production.

To avoid wastage of precious national resource and to minimize the environmental damage there is need to develop and demonstrate balanced use of chemical fertilizer. This will not only improve the crop production in sustainable way but also economize the crop production. Higher food production needs higher amount of plant nutrients. As no single source is capable of supplying the required amount of nutrients, integrated use of all sources is a must to supply balanced nutrition to plants. Balanced fertilization does not mean a certain definite proportion of nitrogen, phosphorus and potash or other nutrients to be added in the form of fertilizer, but it has to take into account the availability of nutrients already present in the soil, crop requirement and other factors. It should take into account the crop removal of nutrients, the economics of fertilizers and profitability, farmers ability to invest, agro-techniques, soil moisture regime, weed control, plant protection, seed rate, sowing time, soil salinity, alkalinity, physical environment, microbiological condition of the soil, available nutrient status of soil, cropping sequence, etc. It is not a static but a dynamic concept. We can say that balanced use of fertilizers should be mainly aimed at: (a) increasing crop yield, (b) increasing crop quality, (c) increasing farm income, (d) correction of inherent soil nutrient deficiencies, (e) maintaining or improving lasting soil fertility, (f) avoiding damage to the environment, and (g) restoring fertility and productivity of the land that has been degraded by wrong and exploitative activities in the past.

Balanced use of plant nutrients corrects nutrient deficiency, improves soil fertility, increases nutrient and water use efficiency, enhances crop yields and farmers’ income, betters crop and environmental quality. To reap the benefits of balanced use of plant nutrients, it is important to have good quality seed, adequate moisture and better agronomic practices with greater emphasis on timeliness and precision in farm operations.

Protection

Late blight and viral degeneration of seed stocks are major problems of potato cultivation in India. These problems are further aggravated by incidence of wide range of other biotic stresses and emergence of new pathogens and pests. The use of large quantities of pesticides has resulted in problems related to environment, residues and resistance development in pests. Thus, there is a need to develop eco-friendly disease/pest management practices to boost potato production without compromising on aforesaid issues.

Minimum commercial quality requirements fall under the WTO-TBT agreement. According to the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) under the WTO/SPS agreement, presence and/or absence of the pathogens are major quality criteria. Therefore, to promote export of Indian potatoes, there is an urgent need to develop pest risk analysis for both export and import purposes.

Post-harvest Technology

With increase in potato production, recurring gluts are common in the country. The prices crash drastically during months of plenty resulting in panic sale by the farmers leading to heavy monetary losses. Lack of improvised on-farm storage structures, lack of adequate elevated temperature storage facilities, high post-harvest losses, low domestic utilization and processing are the major problems of potato utilization in the country. There is also need for developing novel potato products, which are nationally/internationally acceptable, economically viable, healthy and environment friendly.

To promote production, utilization and exports, certain exclusive measures will have to be taken. From research point of view the important ones are development of globally competitive varieties and production technologies to meet the standards of domestic and international market.

Planting Material

Availability of pathogen-free planting material is most important in potato production. Low rate of multiplication necessitates several field multiplication of initial disease-free material, causing progressive accumulation of degenerative viral diseases in seed tubers. The seed related problems are further aggravated due to limited availability of suitable seed producing areas (vector-and other objectionable diseases/insects-free areas). The most deficient states in this respect are NEH region, Maharashtra, Karnataka, W. Bengal, Orissa and Gujarat. Other issues of potato seed production that need attention are high production cost, lower proportion of seed size tubers and inadequate efforts to integrate modern seed multiplication techniques in initial stages of breeders’ seed production. Besides, partnership needs to be developed with private sector and/or Government agencies for augmenting supply of quality seed especially to non-traditional potato producing areas.

Social Sciences

This is high time to give a social face to our research programmes. In addition to technology dissemination, the most important activity of the of Social Sciences has to be to provide valuable feedback collected through surveys and interactions with farmers, industries, domestic markets and exporters. This feedback on national and international requirements should be a guiding force for formulation of research programmes at the institute.

For sustaining potato production and productivity in the country there is an urgent need to conduct studies on (i) estimation/assessment of price fluctuations, (ii) market intelligence, (iii) demand and production of processedproducts in organized and unorganized sectors, (iv) use of modern techniques for area estimation and (v) marketing system for domestic use and exports. Low knowledge level of farmers and farm women with regard to potato technologies, low adoption rate of several potato technologies, low knowledge level of state extension functionaries with regard to the recent research and developments in potato are some of the factors responsible for low yields in many states. Efforts are, therefore, needed to technologically empower farmers and extension functionaries of these areas. It is now clear from a long experience that public sector alone cannot fulfill this responsibility. Participation of NGOs and private sector is immediately needed for accelerating dissemination of modern technologies to farmers. Participation of ICICI Knowledge Park in adoption of crop clusters and helping the farmers during the entire cropping period is an welcome step in this direction. Many such initiatives are required during 11^th plan period.

Biotechnology

To harness maximum benefits of biotechnology and for its integration with potato improvement/production activities, there is a need to undertake focused activities on (i) developing robust molecular markers/QTLs for resistance, yield and quality attributes for initiating marker-assisted selection (MAS), (ii) developing antibiotic resistance marker-free genetic engineering protocol, (iii) standardizing efficient chloroplast transformation vis-à-vis regeneration protocol, (iv) deciphering signal transduction pathways involving cellular and molecular mechanisms involved in complex tuberization process and disease responses, and (v) cloning of desirable genes and promoters and their use for developing transgenic varieties with desired attributes.

National and International Collaboration

India is the leader in sub-tropical potato production. The agro-climatic conditions in neighbouring countries are similar to us and, therefore, varieties and technologies developed in India are more suitable for adoption in these countries. If we want to break Dutch domination in SAARC countries, we have to push our varieties and technology aggressively through technical/research collaboration under regional co-operative programmes.

No tangible results can be obtained if we work in isolation. To face global challenges posed by WTO and IPR, all available expertise and resources in the country need to be pooled to make potato industry competitive in the world market. In this direction stronger research and production linkages with research organizations, industries and progressive farmers will be needed. In particular, linkages for potato seed production and village level processing with NGOs, Co-operatives and Gram Panchayats will be of greater importance in near future. Whenever essential, such linkages also need to be developed with international organizations and multinational companies.

With these critical evaluations, I would like to present a roadmap in terms of critical gaps, targets and approaches to at least narrow, if not completely bridge, those gaps.

Research priorities and targets Priorities for 2005–2007

Priorities for 2005–2007

Critical gaps	Research target	Approaches to achieve target

Limitation of area under potato	Diversify cultivation of potato in kharif crop in plateau region.	The germplasm accessions/potato hybrids and varieties will be evaluated in batches in the kharif crop under rain fed condition at Dharwad centre of AICRP to identify promising genotypes. Suitable potato varieties and agronomic practices for diversifying potato cultivation in kharif crop in plateau region will be standardized
Limitation of area under potato	Incorporate potato in different cropping systems.	Surveillance of different potato based cropping systems in important potato growing regions will be under taken at different AICRP centres to identify remunerative cropping systems (inter-or rotational crop). Suitable agronomic practices need to be developed and varieties identified for cultivation of potato as sandwich crop in the rice-wheat system (occupying more than 10 million hectare area).
Shortage of short duration varieties	Development of short duration potato varieties.	Early maturing hybrids will be evaluated at different centres in the plains to develop new high yielding short duration potato varieties to fit potato in different cropping systems under the prevailing intensive cultivation practices and to enhance area under potato in different regions.
New pests/diseases	Integrated management of white flies and potato stem necrosis.	New insect/pests are emerging in different regions and causing severe yield losses directly or indirectly (through viruses spread by these pests) to potato crop. White fly and stem necrosis are the emerging threats to potato in different parts of the country. Studies will be undertaken at the AICRP centres in the problem areas to identify potato varieties/hybrids having resistance to these pests vis-à-vis find optimum planting dates with minimum pest infestation/damage to the crop.

Priorities for 2008–2012

Critical gaps	Research target	Approaches to achieve target

Limitation of area under potato	Identify new areas for potato cultivation & develop package of practices and varieties	In view of shrinking arable land no crop can be sacrificed to put more area under potato. Therefore, opportunities will be explored for potato cultivation in new/non-traditional areas. Systematic attempts will be made to develop suitable varieties/package of practices for potato cultivation under rain fed condition in kahrif season for which the trials will be conducted at Dharwad centre.
Limitation of area under potato	Identification of heat tolerant potato hybrids for south India	Evaluation and identification of germplasm/hybrids suitable for growing in South India under high temperature regimes.
Inefficient use of nutrients	Development of nutrient efficient potato hybrids (early/medium maturing)	High cost of inputs has been hampering potato cultivation in many parts of our country. Fertilizers are the second most costly inputs after seed. Potato hybrids/varieties that are nutrient efficient and producing high yields in short/medium durations (75–90 days) will be developed following multilocation testing of new hybrids at different AICRP centres.
Inadequate availability of quality seed	Production of quality tuber seed/TPS derived planting material.	The yields of potato in many states are much below the national average mainly for want of non-availability and high cost of quality tuber seed. Surveys will be conducted in collaboration with the state departments of agriculture/horticulture/extension services & state agriculture universities to identify areas suitable for producing quality tuber seed. TPS would also be used as alternative for producing quality planting material in low productivity states. Early bulking TPS populations with higher transplant survival will be identified.
Increasing productivity per unit time and area	Identify remunerative potato based cropping systems	Survey of potato based cropping systems in different regions will be conducted to identify most commonly adopted system and evaluate them for economic returns to find most remunerative system in the region.
Maximization of potato yields.	Maximization of potato yield through agronomic manipulations.	Considering the global change in climate or weather condition it is imperative to reschedule planting dates for potato to maximize yields for which trials will be undertaken at AICRP centres in important potato growing regions of the country.
Yield losses due to diseases/pests	Develop integrated pest management schedules for potato	Many pesticides used to control diseases/pests are hazardous and polluting the environment. It is therefore, essential to develop integrated pest management schedules for different regions of the country for minimizing the use of pesticides and alternatively use bio agents/plant extracts as pesticides.
Low per capita consumption of potato	Diversify potato consumption	In contrast to many developed countries consumption of potato in India is very low for the per capita potato availability in the country, where it is consumed mainly as a vegetable. To enhance per capita consumption of potato in the country the processed potato products may be promoted in the domestic and international markets, which would need varieties for processing and also having culinary values and good storability. Different hybrids will be evaluated in the multilocation trials under AICRP to identify hybrids that suit the needs of processing industry.

Priorities for 2013–2020

Critical gaps	Targets	Approaches to fill the gaps

Shortage of varieties for changing farming patterns.	Development of new generation early and medium maturing potato varieties.	In the face of changing agro-climatic conditions new potato varieties will be required for planting early as well as in the main crop season in different regions and to fit potato in different cropping systems. New potato varieties will be needed that are early/medium maturing and having heat tolerance, high tuber dry matter and storability both under ambient and refrigerated storage conditions. Trials for this purpose will be conducted at different AICRP centres in different regions.
Shortage of quality seed potatoes in many states	Strengthen the quality tuber seed production in seed deficit potato growing regions	Upon diversification of potato cultivation in new/non-traditional areas and different cropping systems the demand for quality tuber seed will increase exponentially in different states. Based on surveys, new areas for producing quality seed potatoes will be identified and seed production will be initiated.
Negligible export of ware/seed potatoes	Producing potatoes with the standards acceptable in the international markets.	For promoting export of potato from India it will need to produce potatoes with high tuber dry matter, better keeping quality in transportation and low residues of hazardous pesticides. Studies will be undertaken at different AICRP centres on organic farming/substrate dynamics and usage of bio-fertilizers to minimize the use of inorganic fertilizers as well as hazardous chemicals against diseases under the prevailing high cropping intensity.
High cost of potato cultivation	Development of low cost potato production technology	Potato being high input crop and considering the escalating costs of inputs such as chemical fertilizers and the pesticides, there is a need to develop low cost potato production technology to optimize the use of inputs. Studies in this direction will be undertaken at different AICRP centres.
Low export of processed potato products	Identify new hybrids with attributes of processing quality	Value addition in the potato varieties for export purpose would be essential. Evaluation of new hybrids under varied agro-climates to identify suitable ones for processing purpose will be done at different AICRP centres.
Inadequate quality planting material/seed potatoes	Identify hybrid TPS populations/agronomic practices giving better survival and plant vigour in transplanted seedlings	With the expected increase in area under potato over the years the demand for tuber seed/quality planting material will also increase exponentially. TPS could be used as an alternative source used for this purpose. Identification of suitable TPS populations through hybridization among the genotypes with genetic variability from diverse sources and standardization of agronomic practices giving better survival of transplanted seedlings will be undertaken at different AICPIP centres.
Lack of potato varieties for organic farming	Develop suitable agro techniques and hybrids for organic potato farming	This would need to have potato varieties that are nutrient efficient and could give higher yields in organic farming. Also to minimize the usage of chemical fertilizers and pesticides different sources of organic manures, biofertilizers and biopesticides giving higher yield and quality of potato will be explored at different AICRP centres.
Post harvest losses	Improvisation of traditional storages	In many states the storage facility (refrigerated stores) is either lacking or not adequate to accommodate the ware/seed potatoes. Many small/marginal farmers in these states sell their produce immediately after harvest; some are using traditional systems for storing their potatoes both for seed or ware purpose and bearing losses due to rottage. This is an important area where research is needed to be focused to make innovations for making the traditional storage of potato more efficient and effective so that farmers could retain their produce at least for couple of months especially at the peak of harvesting time so that distress sale of potato in the market by poor farmers could be avoided. Testing of improvised techniques developed at CPRI could be undertaken at different centres in collaboration with the state agriculture universities and state departments of agriculture/horticulture and through farmer participatory approaches to improve the efficiency of traditional storage systems.

Conclusion

Declining trend in production and productivity is being witnessed globally for most of the major food crops. This declining trend may not be of any consequence to developed nations; but for developing countries like India, it may hammer a death nail to her aspiration. Several factors may be contributing to this yield stagnation. The most direct ways of increasing yields, viz., planting new varieties, extending irrigation, and using fertilizer, were already exploited in many locations during the Green Revolution of the 1960s and 1970s. Throughout history, whenever more food has been needed, people have simply cleared more land to plant more crops. However, in India about 45% (143 million ha) of her 320 million ha geographical area is under cultivation, which is perhaps the highest in the world. The environmental costs of further converting remaining forest, grassland, and wetland habitats to cropland can be disastrous. On the contrary, the arable land is diminishing every year as it is diverted for industrial, residential, recreational and other human needs. Therefore, the challenge before the agricultural scientists today is to produce more nutritious food, from less land, water and other resources and to protect the produce. Dr. MS Swaminathan, the father of Green Revolution in India propounded the concept of “evergreen revolution” to stress the need for enhancing crop productivity in perpetuity without associated ecological or social harm. According to him, “An evergreen revolution can be achieved only if we pay attention to pathways that can help to achieve revolutionary progress in enhancing productivity, quality and value-addition under conditions of diminishing per capita arable land and irrigation water availability, expanding biotic and abiotic stresses, and fast-changing consumer and market preferences”. This will require mobilizing the best in traditional wisdom, technologies and frontier science. Science and technology, if supported by appropriate public policies, can help to enhance the productivity and profitability of small farms in an environmentally and economically sustainable manner (Swaminathan, 2005). Well thought-out roadmaps are necessary for arresting the declining trends being observed in major food crops. In the present article, I have presented a possible roadmap for potato. Suggestion and corrections in this roadmap is solicited from one and all.

Approaches for breaching yield stagnation in potato*