General remarks

Desiree has uniform, big oval tubers, a red skin, shallow eyes and a light yellow flesh colour. Good table potato quality. The cooking type is B to BC with no after cooking discoloration. Suitable for French fries in North Africa and Middle East. The dry matter content is about 21,4%. Desiree can be grown in many different climates.

Maturity

Medium late with an early tuberisation.

Seed treatment

Desiree has normal sprouting. It is recommended to remove the apical sprout and to give a light heat treatment.

Cultivation

Desiree must not be grown on common scab sensitive soils. It is slow to emerge, but later on the foliage will give a good cover. The tuber initiation starts early. Desiree has a high yield with a favourable grading. The variety is slightly sensitive to the herbicide Sencor.

Fertilisation

Requires about 250 kg N per ha (including soil reserves).

Harvest

If the crop is mature and lifted with care, harvest does not need to cause problems.

Storage

Moderately long dormancy period. The variety has good storage characteristics.

Resistance to diseases

Susceptible to Potato Cyst Nematodes, resistant to wart disease (race 1). Susceptible to Leaf roll, very good resistance to PVYntn. Moderate resistance to foliage blight (Phytophthora infestans) and high resistance to tuber infection. Desiree is very susceptible to common scab. High resistance to spraing, secondary growth and mechanical damage. Good tolerance to drought.