Potato [Solanum tuberosum] and sweet potato [Ipomoea batatas] research: A worldwide mandate for the International Potato Center
1990
Midmore, D.J. (International Potato Center, Lima (Peru))
The International Potato Center (CIP) was established in 1971 to address constraints on the production and use of the potato, and more recently of the sweet potato, in developing countries. A flexible thrust research approach based on farmer needs and demand, was developed at CIP to bring together scientists from separate disciplines to focus on common problem areas. The same approach is used to transfer the resulting technologies to national agricultural research agencies. Examples from two thrusts are discussed, which deal with the development of production technology for potato and sweet potato crops in warm climates, and with seed technology. CIP distributes heat-tolerant potato populations, originating from parents with high degrees of general combining ability, for selection of adapted clones in recipient countries. New sources of heat tolerance are being sought among potato cultivars, breeding lines, and species. Control of bacterial wilt, a disease that can seriously limit potato production in warm climates, is a priority research activity at CIP methods to control its range from agronomic practices (e.g. crop rotation) to genetic engineering (e.g. insertion of genes coding for antibacterial proteins). Post-harvest concerns are also addressed, for example, processing quality, marketing, and demand, all of which are of particular importance for sweet potato. The need for inexpensive high-quality planting materials for the potato crop has been highlighted, as well as the use of true potato seed and rooted stem cuttings as alternatives to traditional seed tubers. To ensure that CUP's research is farmer-orientated, some of CIP's social scientists are based throughout CIP's eight regional programs in the developing world
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