News on Potato Varieties and Seed

In mid-July, a new variety of potato named Alliston was officially registered with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, making it the first tater in history to take its name from the potato capital of Ontario.

Canadian potato processing company Cavendish Farms, a subsidiary of J.D. Irving, announced last week that it will build a new potato research and plant breeding centre in New Annan, Prince Edward Island.

Recent research at the James Hutton Institute suggests that limited genetic differences in potato lineages has left British and American spuds vulnerable to late blight, the disease that caused the Irish potato famine.

To protect the interest of the Punjab farmers and uphold the state’s leadership position as the largest potato seed producing state in India, Punjab is planning the certification and traceability of seed potato using blockchain technology as of next year.

The International Potato Technology Expo, a leading potato event in Canada, returns to the Eastlink Centre in Charlottetown February 21-22, 2020.

Sri Lankans consume 228,000MT of potatoes annually, and the per capita consumption of potato has increased by more than five kilogrammes in the last 14 years. However, only 35 percent of the requirement is produced locally.

According to the Philippines Department of Agriculture (DA), Benguet potato farmers reported a double yield with the use of seed potatoes from Canada.

On 10 May, a meeting was held between AuSPICA, members of the Tasmanian Certified Seed Potato Scheme (known as TasSeed) and invited industry representatives.

Indian Farmers’ movements have decided to put up a fight to ensure that farmers’ seed freedoms are not violated in any way. Many speakers also also felt that PepsiCo India should pay compensation to the Gujarat potato farmers involved.

ILVO, HOGENT and TRIAS in Belgium are hosting a Peruvian delegation to the Food Pilot (ILVO, Melle, Belgium) to get the production of so-called “tuntas” (freeze dried potatoes) in a small cooperative factory in the Andes.

De la mano del Director de Operaciones de Patatas Meléndez, Juan Manuel Coello, AgroNews ha visitado una de las parcelas en las que Santiago Domínguez, uno de los agricultores de referencia para el sector ha iniciado los arranques.

Teagasc and IPM Potato Group (IPM) have recently signed a new fifteen year agreement in Oak Park, Carlow.

Ayrshire potatoes have been granted special status under EU rules to protect them from imitation.

Puffin Produce Ltd. unveiled a new look for its Blas y Tir brand of fresh potatoes, including the new 1kg Blas y Tir Pembrokeshire Earlies, which are now available in supermarkets across Wales.

Esta semana comenzará la campaña de patata en Castilla y León. Eduardo Arroyo, presidente de la Asociación de Productores de Patata de Castilla y León (APPACYL)

In an effort to combat diseases which have been hampering potato yields for the past two years in Dedza, International Potato Centre (CIP) recently handed over disease resistant Irish potato seeds to ten farmers in the district.

The idea was straightforward: develop a sweet potato variety that could be adapted across Canada so the country could grow more sweet potatoes rather than rely on imports.

Scientists are creating a “super potato”, fortified with iron and zinc, in a bid to tackle malnutrition in developing countries.