Shimla, Nov 1 (IANS): Himachal Pradesh Governor Urmila Singh Saturday stressed upon the need for identifying diseases posing a threat to potato crop and strategies to protect it from the effects of climate change.

Speaking at a national seminar on 'Emerging problems of potato', organised jointly by the Indian Potato Association and the Central Potato Research Institute (CPRI) of Shimla, she said expressed the need for developing its new varieties.

"The introduction of latest technologies could boost potato production to a large extent.

"Since potato is meeting the food requirements of the country effectively, there is a need for increasing its production up to 125 million till 2050. To meet this target, huge efforts are needed," she said.

The governor said stress should be laid on increasing seed production besides bringing more area under potato cultivation in order to meet the growing requirement of the consumers.

She congratulated the CPRI for its efforts in developing various varieties of potatoes suitable to Indian climate.

N.K. Krishna Kumar, deputy director general of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, said deliberations should be held devising strategies to increase seed production and increasing potato production by bringing more area under cultivation.

He said there was need to develop coordination between agencies, scientists and farmers for fruitful results.

He said many kinds of viruses were attacking crops and research should be done to protect crops from these. Soil health was also an area of concern and efforts should be made to check declining health of soil to enhance productivity.