NEWS for North Dakotans
Agriculture Communication, North Dakota State University
7 Morrill Hall, Fargo, ND 58105-5665

May 6, 1999

NDSU Releases Dakota Pearl, New Chipping, Tablestock Potato Variety

The North Dakota Agricultural Experiment Station announces the release of Dakota Pearl, a potato cultivar capable of delivering exceptional chip quality even after long-term storage of tubers at 42 F. In addition, taste tests conducted at NDSU indicate that the round, bright-white tubers this cultivar produces also should appeal to consumers as a tablestock variety.

Dakota Pearl is the progeny of two North Dakota selections, ND1118-1 and ND944-6, says Richard Novy, NDSU potato breeder. Dakota Pearl has been evaluated and has performed well under both dryland and irrigated conditions in North Dakota, as well as in the 1996-1998 North Central Regional Potato Variety Trials (NCRPVT), which consisted of 23 North American sites during the three-year evaluation.

The average U.S. No. 1 yield of Dakota Pearl across sites and years in the NCRPVT was 268 hundredweight per acre, Novy says. By comparison, the respective trial yields for Norchip, Atlantic and Snowden were 247, 285 and 287 cwt./A. On the basis of merit ranking provided by each NCRPVT cooperator, Dakota Pearl ranked fifth among 19 entries in 1997 and was ranked first among 25 entries in 1998.

Dakota Pearl also was included in the Snack Food Association Chip Variety Trials in 1994, 1997 and 1998, where its ranking for chip color was among the top-three entries at all trial sites during its three-year evaluation, Novy says.

Novy says the taste-test ratings of Dakota Pearl following boiling, baking and microwaving are comparable to other chipping cultivars such as NorValley, Norchip, Atlantic and Snowden. He adds, "Under dryland growing conditions, Dakota Pearl consistently ranked higher than Snowden for taste. Dakota Pearl's ability to retain tuber shape following boiling is comparable to Snowden or Atlantic, but is less than that of NorValley or Norchip."

Dakota Pearl is a medium-maturing cultivar with a vigorous, semierect growth pattern and white flowers. Besides being uniformly round with bright-white skin, the tubers of Dakota Pearl have shallow eyes and a low percentage of external defects. Tuber-set typically ranges from 12 to 14 tubers per hill.

During its evaluation, Dakota Pearl exhibited no notable resistance or exceptional susceptibility to the major pests and potato diseases. One possible exception may be early blight.

"Apparent susceptibility to early blight was noted by a grower in North Dakota in 1998," Novy says. "Further testing will be conducted this year to confirm the observation."

Dakota Pearl will most likely replace acreage of Norchip and Snowden in North Dakota, says Al Schneiter, chair of the NDSU Department of Plant Sciences. With yields similar to Norchip and Snowden, the comparative advantage of Dakota Pearl is its lower level of tuber sugars and its ability to produce uniformly round tubers in size categories preferred by processors.

Seed of Dakota Pearl is available from certified seed growers and as minitubers from the North Dakota State Seed Department and private companies. The NDSU Research Foundation is seeking Plant Variety Protection for Dakota Pearl.

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Source: Richard Novy (701) 231-8536

Editor: DeanHulse (701) 231-6136