Unlike its folkloric namesake, Hodag is a potato chip processing variety with common scab resistance
By Felix Navarro, UW-Madison research program manager, superintendent of the Hancock Agricultural Research Station
For years Wisconsin seed and commercial chip potato growers have been searching for varieties with common scab resistance. Among those that have filled that niche are Pike, and in recent years, Lamoka and Waneta.
Pike is limited on the length of storage that it provides and has limited yield potential. Lamoka and Waneta have very good resistance to common scab and excellent potential for long-storage processing, but Lamoka’s susceptibility to storage rot and Waneta’s low specific gravity are important limitations for these varieties.
The University of Wisconsin-Madison Hodag represents a new choice for a long-storage processing potato chipping variety. Its potential has been established by several years of data in Wisconsin and out-of-state breeding and variety development trials.
Hodag (W5955-1) formed from a 2002 cross of Pike with Dakota Pearl. Selection work was done and preliminary results presented in growers’ meetings. Stable scab resistance was established by Felix Navarro, University of Wisconsin-Madison research program manager, and colleagues in a 2015 article published in the Potato Association of America’s The American Journal of Potato Research.
