Premier Russet: A dual-purpose, potato cultivar with significant resistance to low temperature sweetening during long-term storage

Premier Russet is a russet-skinned, high yielding potato cultivar suitable for processing or fresh-pack. Premier Russet is notable for its resistance to the accumulation of reducing sugars in its tubers. This characteristic allows tubers of Premier Russet to be stored at temperatures as low as 5.6 degrees C for 250 days without the need for reconditioning prior to processing. The low temperature sweetening resistance of Premier Russet allows for its storage at colder temperatures which contributes to prolonged tuber dormancy and quality, and to a reduction in the incidence and severity of storage diseases associated with the higher storage temperatures typically used for industry-standard cultivars such as Russet Burbank and Ranger Russet. Premier Russet was released in 2006 by the USDA-ARS and the Agricultural Experiment Stations of Idaho, Oregon, and Washington, and is a product of the Northwest Potato Variety (Tri-State) Development Program. In full-season trials conducted over a 3-year period in the states of Idaho, Oregon, Washington, Colorado, California, New Mexico, and Texas, Premier Russet averaged 5% and 4% higher yields than Ranger Russet and Russet Burbank, respectively, and had a higher percentage of US No. 1 yield than either cultivar. Specific gravity of Premier Russet is consistently greater than that of Ranger Russet or Russet Burbank. Premier Russet is resistant to common and powdery scab, very resistant to the common strain of potato virus Y (PVYO), and moderately resistant to Verticillium wilt, early blight of the foliage and tuber, Pectobacterium (Erwinia) soft rot, and to galling of roots by powdery scab. Blackspot bruise reaction for Premier Russet is similar to that of Ranger Russet. The incidence of hollow heart in Premier Russet is higher than that of Ranger Russet or Russet Burbank. Cultural recommendations to manage hollow heart in Premier Russet are provided.