Nov 30, 2017USDA commits $2 million to potato breeding research
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) has committed just over $2 million in funding for potato breeding research.
The funds will be divided between four institutions. They are:
- Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, $273,235
- University of Maine, Orono, Maine, $388,000
- Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, $620,160
- Washington State University, Pullman, Washington, $796,800
“For American farmers to continue to prosper and help feed the world, research serves as an accelerator for discovering innovative ways to increase farm productivity and profitability,” said NIFA Director Sonny Ramaswamy.
The grant to Colorado State will be used to develop and evaluate improved potato cultivars that meet the unique production, marketing, environmental, and consumer needs of the Southwest. Among the project’s goals are to develop russet, red, white, chip and specialty cultivars, as well as line selections for both the fresh and processing markets of the Southwest. The new cultivars are intended to complement those developed by breeding programs in other areas of the U.S.
The other three grants extend existing research efforts. That includes the grant to Michigan State, which will actually be shared by four institutions, the University of Wisconsin, North Dakota State University, the University of Michigan and Michigan State University. The project is aimed at developing resistance against key potato pests and to increase breeding efficiency.
Washington State University will use its grant to continue efforts to “release and commercialize new potato varieties that will directly benefit all segments of the Northwest potato industry and indirectly benefit all US producing regions.”
Specifically, the project is aimed at developing cultivars for various market classes, including dual-purpose russets (both processing and fresh use), single-purpose processing russets (e.g. solely dehydration or processing into fries), early maturing russets for fresh-pack, specialty tablestock (selections with red, yellow or purple skin and/or flesh), and cold-sweetening resistant chippers.
The fourth grant will allow researchers at the University of Maine to continue developing “attractive, productive, disease- and insect-resistant potato varieties.” The project is looking at ways to protect crops against late blight, scab, potato virus y and golden nematode.
