Desiree

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GENERAL

• Origin & Breeding: bred from the cross (Urgenta x Depesche) made by ZPC in Leeuwarden, The Netherlands, in 1951.
• Year registered in Canada: 1994
• Registration number: 3973
• Maturity: mid-season to late.

BOTANICAL FEATURES

• Plants: low to medium height, semi-erect to spreading, vigorous; stems are thick, unbranched and bent at the nodes; nodes and internodes are red-purple; wings are large, straight and pigmented.
• Leaves: matt grey-green, open, moderately long, rigid; midribs and petioles wholly coloured red-purple except green on the undersides.
  Primary leaflets: oval with long tips; midribs and petiolules pigmented.
  Secondary leaflets: few and cordate.
• Flowers: numerous; large pink corolla with white tips and greenish white star; long reddish peduncles.
• Tubers: long to oval, medium to large; smooth red skin; medium-deep to shallow eyes; pale yellow flesh.
• Sprouts: cylindrical, very pubescent; base pink, strongly pigmented; apex slightly pigmented.

AGRICULTURAL FEATURES

High yielding variety, uniform in grading; tubers can become irregular under heavy soil and high moisture conditions; good resistance to growth cracks, hollow heart, internal and external bruising, and drought; rather short dormancy period; good storability; medium specific gravity.

• Utilization: good for boiling; suitable for frying and chipping.
• Chief Markets: fresh market, seed export.

REACTION TO DISEASES

Immune: potato wart (race 1).
Resistant: skin spot.
Good resistance: PVY, tuber late blight, blackleg.
Moderately resistant: PVA, PVX, fusarium dry rot.
Moderately susceptible: leaf late blight, leaf roll.
Susceptible: common scab.

References: 1, 4, 7.

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