Paying Tribute to the World's Favorite Tuber

In recognition of the potato's global importance as a staple food, the United Nations has designated 2008 as the International Year of the Potato, or IYP. On behalf of the CGIAR, the International Potato Center (CIP) has taken the lead in activities designed to mark the year, working closely with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and with the government of Peru, which hosts CIP and was responsible for the nomination that led to the UN decision to make 2008 the IYP.

The result is an impressive potato knowledge campaign, which includes:

• High-profile events, such as a landmark meeting of the world's leading potato scientists, held at Cusco, Peru, in March
• An eye-catching and substantial exhibition entitled "The Odyssey of the Potato," which will tour 10 European cities during the year
• Close collaboration with FAO in IYP activities
• Dissemination of interesting and useful information about all aspects of the potato via the CIP Web site (http://www.cipotato.org) and the mass media.

Meanwhile, countries where the potato has become a national staple are doing their bit as well. Switzerland, for example, has issued a postage stamp to commemorate the IYP. Moreover, Zürich was the first city to host the CIP exhibition, with support from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and the North-South Centre and under the sponsorship of Peru.

An eye on the potato

With staple cereal prices soaring, the world's favorite tuber is looking better all the time. It is already the world's third most important food crop, after rice and wheat, grown in more than 125 countries (with total world production reaching a record 320 million tonnes in 2007) and serving as a major source of carbohydrates in the diets of more than a billion consumers. The crop will likely continue to grow in importance, as a result of various appealing features.

From the producer's perspective, the potato is highly adaptable to diverse needs and conditions, producing food more quickly on less land, with less water and in harsher climates than any other major crop. Farmers in the tropics can harvest potato within 50 days after planting - a third of the time it takes in colder climates. In highland areas of southern China and Vietnam, the potato is emerging as an off-season crop; planted in rotation with rice and maize, it brings relatively high prices at the market. Similarly, in the lowlands of Bangladesh and eastern India, the potato's importance as a winter cash crop is rising dramatically. And in China, the world's largest potato producer, the tuber is increasingly viewed by the state as an alternative crop to feed its rice-dependent population. As farmland there continues to be threatened by urbanization, the potato could become an important food crop, as it can be planted in dry areas not suitable for rice and is easy and cheap to produce.

Consumers as well have much cause to appreciate the potato, as it is a highly nutritious food, rich in protein, calcium and vitamin C. A medium-sized potato, boiled with the skin on, provides about 100 calories, 26 grams of carbohydrates, zero cholesterol, about 4 grams of protein, 3 grams of fiber, about half the daily adult requirement of vitamin C and supplies of such essential trace elements as manganese, chromium, selenium and molybdenum.

More than half of global potato output comes from the developing world. The crop is fundamental in the diets of people in South America, Africa and Asia, and it holds enormous promise for helping improve their well-being by enhancing human health and nutrition, bolstering food security and raising rural incomes.

Potato science for the poor

In order for the potato to fulfill its potential, though, especially in the world's poorest countries, potato scientists' must maintain the momentum of crop improvement and related research on cropping systems.

While average potato yields in North America and western Europe often reach 40 tonnes per hectare, yields in developing countries are usually below 20 tonnes. Closing this persistent and sizable yield gap requires wider adoption of improved potato varieties (together with the use of higher quality seed potatoes), showing greater yield potential and stronger resistance to pests and diseases. Of particular concern is late blight, the disease that caused Europe's potato famine 150 years ago and continues to be the most devastating disease of potato worldwide.

Continued progress in potato improvement - particularly for resistance to constantly changing diseases, pests and production conditions - depends much on effective use of the crop's ample genetic diversity, which is evident from the fantastic variety of shapes, colors and tastes found in the potato's place of origin. This is the Andean region, specifically, researchers say, an area northeast of Lake Titicaca in southern Peru, near the border with Bolivia.

Potato diversity is in retreat, however. Some ancient varieties can no longer be found, primarily because of disease, climate change and social upheaval. CIP and its partners are acting to protect this diversity in a number of ways, such as maintenance of thousands of diverse samples in genebanks, where they can be studied and made available to breeding programs. Other options they are pursuing include on-farm preservation of traditional varieties alongside new ones and conservation of wild species related to potato in their natural habitats.

Another central concern for potato research is to achieve sustainable management of natural resources in potato-based systems, as production is intensified to satisfy growing demand. Scientists are working toward this goal by various means, including the development of resistant varieties and strategies for integrated disease and pest management, which drastically reduce the need for agrochemicals.

A meeting of potato minds

At the recent conference held at Cusco on potato science for the poor, nearly 100 leading authorities shared insights and recent results from research aimed at increasing the productivity, profitability and sustainability of potato-based farming systems.

Their presentations and discussion were organized according to three "agricultural worlds" - that is, the agriculture-based, transforming and urbanized economies, as defined in the World Bank's recently released World Development Report 2008: Agriculture for Development. In each type of economy, potato systems are somewhat different, presenting potato development with varying challenges and possibilities.

On the third day of the conference, participants visited the 12,000-hectare Cusco Potato Park (located in the Sacred Valley of the Incas), where farmer-researchers work with scientists to produce and conserve 600 traditional Andean potato varieties. Local conservation experts, known as papa arariwas, guided conference participants around potato plots in some of the park's highest areas, between 3,500 and 4,050 meters above sea level. Afterwards, they exchanged views, blending knowledge from science with that from local experience.

As part of an international event to celebrate the potato, the visit fittingly acknowledged the huge debt that potato producers, consumers and researchers everywhere owe to the indigenous people of the Andes, who took the potato from the wild and made it into a valuable food for the entire world.

Photos (courtesy of CIP): This exhibit, developed by CIP and entitled "The Odyssey of the Potato," will tour 10 European cities during 2008.

Related Links:

International Potato Center (CIP)