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Potato Research
Putting technology and knowledge to use for development
Small-scale potato farmers in developing countries should have access to genetic resources to help them increase their yields. Extensive research is carried out on preserving and using potato varieties, in particular by the International Potato Center (CIP), a long-time partner of the SDC. Research is also focused on future challenges in the potato sector.
Agriculture is a sector that requires constant efforts to increase and stabilise production, adapt to changing climates, and be capable of offering new products tailored to consumer demand. Current research is dedicated to finding ways to increase crop productivity and resistance to pests and diseases, and to develop new technologies that benefit small-scale farmers and that are also environmentally friendly.
Potatoes are unusual in that they reproduce vegetatively, meaning that diseases in the parent potato are transmitted to its descendants. It is therefore imperative for sprouts to be grown in a strictly controlled environment. Small-scale farmers in developing countries should have access to this high-quality, healthy potato seed. Buying potato seed is a large investment for farmers, representing up to fifty percent of production costs.
Cooperation between scientists and farmers
Potatoes have an enormous amount of
genetic diversity. In the Andes, where potatoes originated, continuing efforts are being undertaken to list, describe, and archive the characteristics of all the varieties. That is the role of the
International Potato Center (CIP), which manages the largest germplasm collection in the world (5,000 varieties and 100 wild species) for purposes of conservation and use. This collection is
accessible at any time for research purposes or plant selection.Research can provide small-scale farmers with the means, technology, and knowledge to use and produce healthy potato seed and increase their yields. In addition to supporting CGIAR (Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research) international agricultural research centres such as the CIP, the SDC believes that national institutions in Andean countries are important partners in the preservation of potato diversity, both on site with rural populations and in germplasm banks. The SDC works closely with these banks: the Proinpa Foundation (Promoción e Investigación en Productos Andinos) in Bolivia, the “Potato Park” in Peru and Iniap (Instituto de Investigaciones Agropecuarias) in Ecuador, giving priority to native potato varieties.
Besides access to knowledge and resources, the SDC also focuses on national and international agricultural research – which it believes should cooperate closely. Another important partner is the Swiss Centre for International Agriculture (ZIL) from the North-South Centre of the ETH Zurich that conducts research with CGIAR centres.
The future of potatoes
Over the last few years, research has
led to a number of non-food uses for potatoes, such as production of plastics (including disposable plates and silverware), medication (“pharma crops”), and ethanol (automobile fuel). The use of
potatoes for fuel – still small-scale, but the focus of large research grants – has sparked a major controversy. For the SDC, allocating enormous amounts of land for intensive farming of a food crop
to be used as a new fuel carries the risk of raising staple food prices, endangering food security for poor populations in developing countries and damaging the environment.Important discoveries have been made about the genetics, physiology and pathology of potatoes. This new knowledge has led to the development of varieties that offer improved disease resistance, productivity and nutritional quality. From the perspective of development cooperation, all aspects and implications of the use of new biological techniques should be carefully and thoroughly examined.