News on New Potato Varieties

An international team of scientists headed by Wageningen University has discovered a genetic mechanism which allows potato plants to develop tubers during the long days of spring and summer in northern latitudes.

The Irish Lumper potato has been cultivated once more by County Antrim farmer Michael McKillop who has a keen interest in history.

Potato breeding developments being researched by graduate students in the Department of Plant and Soil Sciences of the University of Maine look to save the future of Maine’s iconic crop.

During the upcoming Fruit Logistica, Agrico will sign a contract with the UK firm Albert Bartlett, who will shortly introduce the Gourmandine potato variety in the United Kingdom.

Oregon State University once again has a plant breeder leading its potato development efforts after filling a position that was vacant for nearly two years: Sagar Sathuvalli.

On Thursday 8 November Agrico opened its annual Presentation of Varieties and Seedlings at its breeding company Agrico Research in Bant.

HZPC will highlight pomme couleur, a range of potato varieties wwith a colourful appearance and various functional ingredients.

“Het winnen van de Food Valley Award is geweldig. We zijn nu in een fase beland dat het zo goed gaat dat we op zoek zijn naar partners en daar helpt het winnen van zo’n prijs enorm”, aldus Pim Lindhout, hoofd Research &Development Solynta.

Papas que contienen niveles más altos de los carotenoides beneficiosos son el resultado de estudios por científicos del Servicio de Investigación Agrícola (ARS) para mejorar una de las hortalizas más populares en EE.UU.

Potatoes with higher levels of beneficial carotenoids are the result of U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) studies to improve one of America's most popular vegetables.

This year, Agrico's potato variety Gourmandine was awarded the much coveted French quality award ‘Saveur de l’Année 2013’ (‘Taste of the Year 2013’) for the third time.

The days of a few big varieties dominating the potato market are over, with breeding programmes becoming more focused on delivering sustainable varieties for specific markets.

To potato breeders in the Pacific Northwest, the annual Tri-State Tour is akin to Christmas morning, explained Brian Charlton, with Oregon State University's Klamath Basin Research & Extension Center.

Two innovative Dutch agri-food companies, Solynta and FOODSniffer, have been selected to present at the Ag Innovation Showcase in St. Louis Sept. 10-13. Solynta has developed a revolutionary breakthrough in potato breeding technology.

Potato breeder Rich Novy says growers shouldn't read too much into the fact that a promising new variety he helped develop, Palisade Russet, hasn't made it into many fields yet.

Solynta's fast hybrid potato breeding program one of the three nominees for the 2012 Food Valley Award. Potatoes are the world's third most important food crop after rice and wheat. They are significantly more efficient in their use of water and nutri...

The following is a commentary published this week in Nature, on the GMO situation in Europe, focused on potatoes:

The Specialty Potato Alliance promises US consumers this season a wide choice of potato varieties: “This season we have everything,” noted the elated Richard Leibowitz commenting on Alliances’ spring harvest in Bakersfield. “We are going to have the...