Solynta's Latest Hybrid Potato Variety Shows Remarkable Late Bligh Resistance in Field Trial

European hybrid potato seed innovator Solynta has developed a hybrid potato variety that's highly resistant to late blight. The Solynta team shared the updates from its trial field, where the latest hybrid potato variety was tested for Late Blight resistance. In the field trial, tubers grown from hybrid true potato seeds (HTPS) were planted.

Alongside, three other commercial varieties were also planted. All these plants were grown under the same conditions without chemical crop protection. After planting the four varieties of May, they have monitored the field on site and remotely 24/7.

This way, they were able to see the establishment and impact of potential Late Blight infection. Caused by oomycete pathogen Phytophthora infestants, late blight infects potato tubers and can spread quickly, causing total crop failure in extreme cases.

Solynta, a Dutch agro startup, offers hybrid true potato seeds that offer farmers a non-GMO, pest-resilient, reliable, and sustainable potato option. The company also shared an image of the field where three varieties had their leaves completely dried while the fourth was alive and in excellent health -- verdant green. The latest Solynta hybrid variety survived the high Late Blight pressure in the field.

Even though the Solynta hybrid variety showed lesions, (on the front-left side of the field), it is still green and will continue to grow. These first results validate our research findings and show that with non-GMO hybrid breeding, they can target genes of interest and use them to create more robust potatoes.

The Dutch hybrid potato innovator said it was confident that by crossbreeding robust parent lines with its enhanced Late Blight resistant traits, many new hybrid potato varieties can be bred, which will have greater yield and nutrition and would need less agrochemical.

This technology will benefit both potato grower's economics and world food security." It is an ongoing trial, and the harvest will be done 120 days after planting. This trial aims to assess and verify the late blight resistance levels of the new variety without chemical protection.

With their new hybrid potato varieties grown from true potato seed, they aim to have a positive impact on the growing need for quality starting material and robust, new potato varieties among potato growers all over the world. In July 2021, Solynta raised USD 23 million in Series C funding from a consortium of investors.

Hein Kruyt, CEO at Solynta:
 

"With this funding round Solynta will be able to leverage its past successes and enhance its focus on down-stream activities. This will allow Solynta to aggressively speed up its product pipeline as well as its market facing activities."

In November 2022, South African seed potato producers RegenZ and Solynta inked a partnership to introduce hybrid true potato seeds (HTPS) to South Africa.

They agreed to collaborate to introduce Solynta's climate-smart and disease-free genetics to the local farming community. In March 2023, Solynta and PepsiCo's Ethiopia-based Foods Unit Senselet Food Processing PLC launched a project to introduce hybrid true potato seeds to Ethiopia.

Solynta's innovation of hybrid potatoes allows farmers to access new varieties from clean, disease-free true potato seed (TPS) compared to bulky and diseased seed tubers. TPS also has logistical benefits, as only 25 grams of true seed is enough to cultivate one hectare of farmland compared to 2,500 kg of tubers.

It's cheaper to transport TPS than traditional seed tubers. In February 2023, Solynta signed an agreement with FreshCrop Limited, Kenya's largest producer of seed tubers, to collaborate on hybrid true potato innovations in Kenya.