News on Research

The US Agency for International Development has awarded Michigan State University (MSU) a $5.8 million cooperative agreement to improve potato production in Bangladesh and Indonesia. Additional partners include the University of Minnesota and J.R. Simplot as well as in-country partners in both Bangladesh and Indonesia.

Calyxt, Inc., a Minnesota-based company focusing on developing healthier food products, has announced that it has completed the first field trials of its cold storable potato.

The USDA Agricultural Research Service’s Potato Research Worksite is a unique, invaluable resource that helps develop better chips, fries and dehydrated flakes through improved storage and processing.

UK Seed potato exports are booming with big strides being made to open even more new markets.

BP 2015 is the first time this event held every two year for the British Potato Industry is entirely indoors. Visit BP2015 in Harrogate in 8 days from today...

Arca Continental today inaugurated its Global Innovation Center for Snacks in Atlanta, which will serve the Wise business in the US, Bokados in Mexico and Inalecsa in Ecuador.

EU and US negotiators were meeting this week in Miami, USA for the 11th round of Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) negotiations. Negotiations on tariffs and quotas could have serious implications – either positive or negative - for the agricultural and primary food transformation sector as markets would open up.

Don’t miss out on the chance to recognize and honor a well-deserving member of the potato grower community by nominating them for 'Potato Man of the Year' or 'Potato Man for All Seasons'.

Hybrid potatoes are piquing the interests of people both within and outside the potato sector. A hybrid combines the best of two systems in order to maximize performance. But what does hybridization mean? And will it change the sector for good? HZPC weighs in.

The Dutch Association of Arable Farmers of (VTA) finds an average yield of 53.622 kg/ha, 8% below last year and on par with the 5-year average. Although tubers are large this season, the VTA predicts low factory yields as a result of a host of quality issues, resulting in an increased demand for potatoes per ton finished product.

The Idaho Potato Commission (IPC) announced the recent appointment of James Hoff as a new Commissioner who will serve a three-year term. James Hoff of Hoff Farms in Idaho Falls will be formally sworn in at the IPC’s October meeting.

In Mexico, Filiberto Cadena Payan, representative in Sinaloa of the Potato Product System, said that it was important for the state's producers to reduce their crop area to the 11,000 hectares allocated to this crop this year in order to continue obtaining the best possible results in the marketing of the potato crop.

Leatherhead Food International Limited was acquired by Science Group and will move to a new facility early 2016.

This November over 6,000 growers, packers, processors, retailers, researchers, specialists, consultants, journalists, students and international visitors will head to the Harrogate International Centre, for the biennial potato industry event, BP2015.

Dutch start-up Caenator, in collaboration with StartLife and Wageningen University & Research Centre, presented a new fully automatic french fry vending machine.

With digging season just around the corner, eastern Idaho potato farmers say they are optimistic they will improve on a middling 2014 harvest this year.

Research shows that crops with stacks of two or more resistance genes from closely related species, introduced into the crop via for instance genetic engineering, combined with the simultaneous introduction of resistance management, can ensure the long-term resistance of these plants to economically significant and aggressive diseases.

With a major new campaign to promote fresh potatoes across Britain and Ireland about to break, AHDB Potatoes and Bord Bia (the Irish Food Board) are calling on industry to get behind it and help change the way consumers think about potatoes.