Potato production is expanding in selected regions of Africa and Asia. In 2019, the area harvested 368 million tonnes of potatoes - thanks to the efforts of people from Vietnam to Kenya, from the Peruvian Andes to Rwanda, to help feed the 1.3 billion people for whom the product is their staple.
Now scientists are working on the creation of new varieties of potatoes, more adapted to the conditions of heat and drought, disease-resistant, and therefore, significantly facilitate the life of local potato growers. From the point of view of researchers, in order to achieve success on this path, it is necessary to return to the "native" species - the wild relatives of agricultural crops.
Thiago Mendes, a breeder at the International Potato Center (CIP), headquartered in Lima, notes that more resistant varieties are created by genetic diversity, and many wild relatives of crops are naturally resistant to diseases, such as late blight.
The scientists will collect samples of these species under the Crop Wild Relatives (CWR) project. The project is designed for 10 years.
We add that today the third place in terms of potato production in sub-Saharan Africa is Rwanda. This crop ensures the country's food security (annual consumption of potatoes in Rwanda is 125 kilograms per person). Also on the list of major African producers are Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda, Angola and Ethiopia.
Based on materials from Potatoes.news