Dakota Ruby is the name of a new potato cultivar developed by the NDSU potato breeding project and released by the North Dakota Agricultural Experiment Station. Dakota Ruby has bright red skin, stores well and is intended for the fresh market.
Asunta (Susie) Thompson, NDSU potato breeder and associate professor, reports the North Dakota Agricultural Experiment Station approved the release of a new potato cultivar named Dakota Ruby on April 11, 2014.
Dakota Ruby yields well and produces uniform, round and smooth tubers with bright skin color, white flesh and shallow eyes. The main use for Dakota Ruby is for the fresh market and is particularly well suited for boiling, soups and salads.
The Dakota Ruby plant has a medium to large, vigorous vine, producing red-purple flowers. The plant produces abundant pollen and is useful as both a male and a female for hybridizing. The plant has no known significant susceptibilities or resistances. Tubers store well and retain their bright red skin color in storage.
The NDSU potato breeding team includes Thompson, Harlene Hatterman-Valenti, Andrew Robinson and potato pathologists Neil Gudmestad and Gary Secor.
Thompson has served as the NDSU Potato Breeder since 2001 and has released five other potato varieties.
For more information, see the Potato Breeding and Cultivar Development webpage at www.ag.ndsu.edu/plantsciences/research/potato.
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