Rainier Russet has attractive culinary, nutritional qualities (with video)
Rainier Russet is a high-yielding, medium to late dual purpose potato variety with long dormancy.
Overview
- Parentage: A99134-1 x Canela Russet
- Developer: Northwest Potato Variety Development Program (PVMI)
- Plant Variety Protection: Applied for in 2021.
- Strengths: Rainier Russet is high yielding, dual-purpose russet with long dormancy and superior taste.
Morphological Characteristics
- Plant: Rainier Russet has medium to large-sized semi-erect to erect vines with medium to late maturity.
- Tubers: Oblong-long, heavily russeted tubers with higher protein and antioxidant content than those of the standard potato varieties.
Agronomic Characteristics
- Maturity: Medium to late maturing
- Tubers: Rainier Russet produces oblong-long tubers with dark, heavily russeted skin. Tubers have an average number of eyes that are shallow in depth and are evenly distributed. Tuber set is medium to low, and the average tuber size is large. Produces high percent of fresh packout tubers.
- Yield Potential: High
- Specific Gravity: High specific gravity and percent solids for Rainier Russet were higher than Ranger Russet, Russet Burbank and Russet Norkotah.
- Culinary Quality: Excellent (awarded best tasting potato in russet category).
- Diseases/Physiological Disorders: Rainier Russet is more resistant to fusarium, foliar early blight and common scab than Russet Burbank and Ranger Russet. It is slightly more susceptible to the viruses PVY, PLRV and tuber net necrosis. Slightly susceptible to shatter bruise and hollow heart.
- Incentives for Production: Rainier Russet is a medium- to late-maturing selection with oblong to long, large russeted and attractive tubers. Total yields are like those of Russet Burbank and Ranger Russet and slightly higher than Russet Norkotah. However, Rainier produced significantly higher percent of U.S. No. 1 yields when compared with the standard varieties. It has high protein, high antioxidant level, high specific gravity, light fry color, low acrylamide level and few internal and external tubers defects. In three years of evaluations in the Western Regional Potato Variety Trials, postharvest merit scores for fresh and processing qualities were high for Rainier Russet when compared to standard varieties.
Management
- Fertility: Rainier Russet has a moderate to low nitrogen requirement, maxing out at 250-300 pounds in the Pacific Northwest.
- Planting: Cut seed to 2- to 2.5-ounce size. Optimal plant spacing for commercial production on 36-inch rows in southeast Idaho is 10 to 12 inches. Plant 6 to 8 inches deep and provide a broad shallow hill to minimize greening.
- Storage: Dormancy length of Rainier Russet is approximately 10 days longer than Russet Burbank, with Russet Burbank identified as a variety having long tuber dormancy. Longer dormancy in Rainier Russet makes it a best choice for organic fresh market variety.
- Seed Production and Availability: Seed availability is currently limited; check www.pvmi.org for a full list of seed growers.
