Kufri Jyoti
The most widely grown table variety in the country — a safe default where you have not grown potato before.
Quick facts
- Crop
- Potato
- Type
- Planting material
- Season
- Rabi
- Maturity period
- 90–100 days
- Seed rate
- 13–18 quintals of 40–50 g seed tubers per acre. If you are using autumn-crop seed for spring planting, break its dormancy first
- Expected yield
- 250–300 q/ha
- Suitable soil
- Loam
- Disease resistance
- Moderate late blight tolerance
- Release
- Released 1968 · ICAR-CPRI, Shimla · cross 3069d(4) × 2814Q(1)
Actual yield depends on sowing time, soil, irrigation, weather, seed quality and crop management.
About this variety
Kufri Jyoti was released in 1968 by the Central Variety Release Committee, bred at ICAR-Central Potato Research Institute (CPRI), Shimla from the cross 3069d(4) × 2814Q(1). More than half a century later it remains India’s single most widely grown potato variety, known for its wide adaptability across hills, plains and plateaus, early bulking, and unusually slow rate of seed degeneration compared to most other Kufri varieties.
Should you pick this variety?
Pick Kufri Jyoti if you have not grown potato before or farm with lower inputs. It is India's most widely grown potato, adapts to hills, plains and plateaus, and bulks early. It takes 90–100 days and gives 250–300 q/ha. Its seed degenerates slowly, so saved seed stays useful longer than most Kufri types. It has only moderate resistance to blight, so you still need a fungicide programme in a humid winter. Newer varieties can beat it on yield. Choose Kufri Bahar for a higher yield on a good-input farm.
Sowing & cultivation
- Sowing timeLast week of September to mid-October for autumn planting. PAU singles this variety out as suitable for the spring crop too, planted in the second fortnight of January
- Seed rate13–18 quintals of 40–50 g seed tubers per acre. If you are using autumn-crop seed for spring planting, break its dormancy first
- SpacingRidges 60 cm apart, tuber to tuber 20 cm. Mechanised planting goes to 65 x 18.5 cm or 75 x 15 cm
- Sowing methodPlant on ridges made with a ridger. To break dormancy of autumn-raised seed, dip the cut tubers for an hour in 1% thiourea with 1 ppm gibberellic acid, then air-dry the pieces in a thin layer for 24 hours
- IrrigationFirst irrigation right after planting, then light repeated waterings, 7 to 8 in all. Keep water below the ridge top so the surface does not harden
- FertilizerPer acre: 20 tonnes farmyard manure, 75 kg N (165 kg urea), 25 kg P2O5 (155 kg single superphosphate), 25 kg K2O (40 kg muriate of potash). Half the N with all the P and K at planting, the rest at earthing up. A paddy-straw mulch at 25 q/acre saves 18 kg of nitrogen (PAU)
Pest & disease considerations
Advantages & considerations
Why farmers may choose it
- Widest geographic adaptability of any major Indian potato variety — grows across hills, plains and plateaus alike
- Slow rate of seed degeneration, so farm-saved seed stays productive across more generations than most Kufri varieties
- Waxy, mild-flavoured tubers that are easy to cook and stay free of after-cooking discoloration, good for both table and processing use
Things to consider
- Older release than many newer Kufri varieties, so its blight resistance and yield ceiling have both been overtaken by more recent releases
- Still needs a fungicide programme against blight in a humid winter — "moderate" resistance is not immunity
Suitable regions
States this variety is recommended for — check locally, since a state can have more than one recommended zone.
- Uttar Pradesh
- West Bengal
- Bihar
- Punjab
Keeping your own seed potato for next season
Kufri Jyoti degenerates slowly as seed, which is one reason it stayed the most widely grown table variety in the country. Slowly, though, is not never: every cycle of farm-kept seed carries a little more virus and a little less yield.
If you do keep your own, keep it properly. Mark a healthy block during the season and take seed only from there, never from the crop you rejected at grading. Pick medium tubers, cure them in shade, cut out any with rot or soft spots, and store cool, dark and airy rather than in a warm heap. Expect to buy fresh certified seed every third or fourth cycle; in the plains, a seed lot raised in the hills or in a certified plains programme is what resets the clock.
Can you keep your own planting material?
This crop is grown from tubers, so your own field can supply next season. Keep medium-sized, firm tubers from healthy plants, store them cool and dark, and throw out anything soft or rotting — the disease travels inside the tuber. Replace your stock with certified planting material every few seasons, because virus builds up quietly year after year.
How it compares with other varieties
Every Potato variety with a page on this site, side by side. The row for this page is highlighted.
| Variety | Best for | Maturity | Yield | States |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kufri Bahar | Dual-purpose potato for good-input northern plains farms | 90–100 days | 300–350 q/ha | Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Bihar, West Bengal |
| Kufri Chipsona (processing) | Chips and crisps, usually grown on contract | 100–110 days | 280–320 q/ha | Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Gujarat |
| Kufri Jyotithis page | Safe default potato, even with low inputs | 90–100 days | 250–300 q/ha | Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Bihar, Punjab |
| Kufri Pukhraj | Early, low-input potato for quick lifting | 70–80 days | 300–350 q/ha | Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat |
Tools for this crop
The numbers you need next: how much seed to buy, whether the lot germinates, what the fertilizer bill looks like and what Potato is selling for.
- Seed Rate CalculatorHow much seed your Potato plot needs, corrected for the germination of the lot you bought.
- Seed Variety FinderFilter every Potato variety on this site by state, season, duration and soil.
- Fertilizer CalculatorTurn the NPK recommendation for Potato into bags of urea, DAP and MOP for your field size.
- Crop Profit CalculatorPut your seed, labour and input costs against the yield you expect from this variety.
- Mandi Price CheckerToday's Potato rate in your nearest mandi, before you fix a price with a trader.
Subsidy and government support
Schemes that help with the cost of Potato seed or planting material. Rules and the application route are on each scheme page.
Frequently asked questions
Why is Kufri Jyoti still so widely grown?
Its wide adaptability across very different growing regions and its unusually slow rate of seed degeneration — farmers can keep re-sowing farm-saved seed longer than with most other varieties before quality drops.
Is Kufri Jyoti resistant to late blight?
Only moderately — it holds up better than a fully susceptible variety, but still needs a protective fungicide spray in a wet, humid season.
Can I use my own Kufri Jyoti potatoes as seed next season?
Yes, more safely than most Kufri varieties. Its seed degenerates slowly, so farm-saved seed stays productive across more generations. Still, replace it with fresh certified seed when yield or tuber quality starts to slip.
Kufri Jyoti or Kufri Pukhraj: which should I sow?
Kufri Jyoti takes 90–100 days, gives 250–300 q/ha and has moderate blight resistance. Kufri Pukhraj takes only 70–80 days and gives 300–350 q/ha, but it has no built-in blight protection and needs a planned spray calendar. Pick Jyoti for safety. Pick Pukhraj for an early crop if you can spray on time.
Can I grow Kufri Jyoti in the hills?
Yes. It has the widest adaptability of any major Indian potato variety and grows across hills, plains and plateaus.
How long does Kufri Jyoti take, and when should I lift it?
90–100 days. Cut the haulms about 10 days before digging so the skin hardens. Lifting straight after a late irrigation is what causes most of the skinning and rot you see later in the heap.
Is Kufri Jyoti good for chips?
It is a table potato, not a processing one. Chip factories buy on dry matter and low sugar, which is what Kufri Chipsona was bred for. Grow Kufri Jyoti for the fresh market and leave the chip contract to a chipping variety.
Sourced from: KUFRI JYOTI variety profile — PotatoPro, ICAR-CPRI Kufri Potato Varieties — IndianPotato.com, Package of Practices for Vegetable Crops, Punjab Agricultural University: potato planting dates, seed rate, dormancy breaking, spacing, fertiliser and irrigation. editorial policy.