Bengal not to allow Pepsi to produce Atlantic potato

Kolkata, Aug 27: West Bengal government has decided not to allow Pepsico India to cultivate the Atlantic variety of potatoes as it was harmful for the soil.

State Agriculture Secretary Atanu Purakayastha, in a notification here, recently said that the seeds of this variety of potato were a potential carrier of warts.

Official sources said the variety can be cultivated with seeds procured from Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, but it, if required, should not be cultivated in the same plot for more than two consecutive years.

The notification said this kind of potato cultivation would be closely monitored by the state agriculture department, the Potato Research Centre at Midnapore and the Bidhan Chandra Agriculture University in Kalyani.

The government has sent samples of the variety to the Central Potato Research Centre at Shimla after farmers complained that its cultivation had damaged the soil. The CPRC reported the variety was a potential carrier of warts.

UNI