Iron-rich biofortified potatoes move from breeding to scale in Peru

Key result story taken from CGIAR Breeding for Tomorrow's 2025 annual technical report.

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Iron-rich biofortified potato varieties developed by CIP’s breeding program are transitioning from research to large-scale seed-system deployment in Peru. In 2025, CIP and partners installed demonstration plots and delivered 50,000 in vitro plants of two iron‑rich potato varieties to the National Institute of Agricultural Innovation (INIA). These plants are expected to generate 1,500 metric tons of certified seed, enough to plant about 1,000 hectares and reach more than 32,000 farming families, marking a major milestone in the effort to use crop improvement to increase access to iron-rich staple foods.  

In Peru, around 30% of women and over 40% of children under five suffer from iron deficiency anemia, a major public health problem, especially for rural Andean areas. As potatoes are the country’s most widely consumed staple crop, they provide an opportunity to contribute to micronutrient intake through a widely consumed crop.  

A healthy diet depends on access to a diverse range of safe, affordable and nutritious foods. Biofortified crops, combined withdietary diversity and other nutrition interventions, such as supplementation and industrial fortification, can therefore contribute to fighting malnutrition.. Where potatoes are already a daily staple, iron-rich varieties can help increase iron intake through foods that families already grow, buy and eat.

Breeders at the International Potato Center (CIP) began addressing this challenge more than two decades ago by identifying potato varieties naturally rich in iron and combining them with traits farmers value, such as high yield, adaptation to high altitudes, good culinary quality, and resistance to major diseases, such as late blight. Hundreds of native varieties were screened for micronutrient concentration, and promising parents were selected for breeding. Breeders created more than 13,000 new potato candidates and selected hundreds of the most promising ones.  

This work followed CGIAR Breeding for Tomorrow approach, which helps breeding teams design better varieties by combining market insights, farmer preferences, and a standardized breeding stage-plan to guide decisions from early crosses to final product development.  

These candidates were tested across 26 locations in the Peruvian highlands between 2018 and 2021. Several candidates showed higher iron concentrations and agronomic performance across test locations.  

Farmers also played a central role through participatory variety selection conducted with Peru’s National Institute of Agricultural Innovation (INIA), national universities, NGOs, and other local partners. Over 1,600 of them selected promising clones at key crop stages, helping ensure the final varieties reflected farmer preferences, production priorities, and breeding targets for higher iron content.

This effort produced two biofortified potato varieties: CIP‑Kallpa Yawri and CIP‑Puka Yawri, which registered in Peru in 2025. Both combine higher iron levels with strong performance at high altitudes – between 2,600 and 4,200 meters above sea level – and can yield over 20 metric tons per hectare, significantly higher than the 8 metric tons typically obtained with traditional varieties.   

Nutrition research has provided critical evidence that these improvements can contribute to increased absorbed iron.  Studies in Peru show that iron from potatoes is highly bioavailable – or easy for the body to absorb. They also found that iron‑rich biofortified potatoes can significantly increase the total amount of iron absorbed by consumers compared with regular potatoes.  

A major milestone toward scaling was reached in 2025 when CIP and INIA expanded efforts to multiply planting material of the biofortified varieties. CIP produced and delivered 50,000 in vitro plants of CIP‑Kallpa Yawri and CIP‑Puka Yawri. These plants are expected to generate around 1,500 tons of certified seed, sufficient to plant approximately 1,000 hectares in the coming seasons and reach more than 32,000 farmers’ families.  

CIP and partners, including INIA, the Universidad Nacional de Huancavelica, and the farmer organization Grupo Yanapai, are now strengthening the seed system and farmer engagement needed for adoption. They are implementing demonstration fields across several locations in Huancavelica and Junín, allowing farmers, universities, and public institutions to evaluate the new varieties and support their introduction into local farming systems.  

Farmer training and outreach to promote the biofortified varieties are underway, supported by the Secretaría Técnica de Coordinación (STC-CGIAR), which channels Peruvian public funding to CGIAR and international agricultural research and technology transfer initiatives. Several metric tons of iron-rich biofortified potatoes are being produced for promotional activities and nutrition awareness campaigns in rural communities and schools.  

Seed multiplication activities are also happening in Huancayo and Huánuco, where seeds are being produced to support future certified seed production.  

These seed multiplication and dissemination efforts are supported by Breeding for Tomorrow, helping create the conditions for improved varieties to move from breeding pipelines into farmer seed systems.

As seed multiplication progresses and adoption expands, iron-rich biofortified potatoes have the potential to improve diets, strengthen resilient potato production systems, and support the livelihoods of smallholder farmers across Andean communities where potatoes are regularly consumed where micronutrient deficiencies remain a public health concern.  

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Contributing Centers: International Potato Center (CIP).

Contributing external partners: Instituto Nacional de Innovación Agraria (INIA); Universidad Nacional de Huancavelica; Grupo Yanapai; Secretaria Tecnica de Coordinacion (STC-CGIAR).

Coordinating the strategy across CGIAR

This biofortification strategy is further pursued by a Biofortification Coordination Team (BCT), a CGIAR cross-Program mechanism designed to strengthen alignment and accelerate impact. This follows the 2025 Next Phase in Biofortification consultation, which set the direction for Biofortification 2.0 and emphasized consumer-driven, food-system-wide approaches. The BCT coordinates priorities and actions across the following CGIAR Science Programs: Breeding for Tomorrow, Better Diets and Nutrition, Sustainable Farming, Scaling for Impact, and Policy Innovation.

Reviewed and ajusted with inputs from Mercy Lungaho, Biofortified and Health Enhancing Staples Lead, Better Diets and Nutrition, and Scaling for Impact.