David de Koeyer to study potato blight in Peru

A New Brunswick potato scientist will travel to Peru this month in an effort to help Canadian tubers fight blight.

Dr. David De Koeyer, who works at the Potato Research Centre in Fredericton, has spent his professional life studying spuds.

He's heading to the vegetable's birthplace in South America to visit the International Potato Centre in Lima, the Peruvian capital.

De Koeyer will have 11 months to complete his research among the world's biggest collection of living potato tissue.

He hopes that among the 2,000 varieties he'll have access to, he'll find some wild potatoes with genes that are resistant to late blight.

The disease, which rots potatoes in the field, can cause catastrophic crop failure. It struck Ireland in the 1840s, leading to a potato famine that contributed to the deaths of up to one million people.

The knowledge De Koeyer acquires could eventually bring new, blight-resistant potato plants to Maritime fields.