"PiperPlus", developed using precision breeding techniques at the Sainsbury Laboratory (TSL) on the Norwich Research Park, is an improved version of the popular Maris Piper potato variety.

It carries genetic resistance to late blight as well as potato virus Y (PVY) and potato leafroll virus (PLRV) - three of the most damaging diseases affecting modern potato production.

And it has become the first potato to receive marketing notice approval under the UK government's Precision Breeding regulatory framework.

Pictured left is a susceptible Maris Piper potato infected with late blight, compared to a blight-resistant PiperPlus tuber on the right. The inner notches indicate where the potatoes were inoculated with........

© Norwich Evening News