The 2024 Tri-State Potato Selection Tour kicked off in Hermiston in late September, followed by a stop here in Klamath Falls, before wrapping up in early October in Aberdeen, Idaho.
The tour allows researchers to see first-hand the annual results from the Northwest Potato Variety Development Program and to select which new varieties will continue through the breeding program.
Established in 1983, the Northwest Potato Variety Development Program, also known as the Tri-State Potato Research and Breeding Program, develops and supports the cultivation of new potato varieties for the Pacific Northwest.
This research is jointly supported and conducted by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Research Service (ARS), University of Idaho (UI), Washington State University (WSU), and Oregon State University (OSU).
Factors considered in the selection process include varieties showing disease and pest resistance, increased yields or faster maturity, improved dormancy and storability, and specialty qualities such as colored flesh and skin or distinctive tuber shapes or sizes.
Each potato variety has unique composition characteristics which make it best suited for certain purposes such as making potato chips, or French fries, or for eating fresh but prepared in different ways such as frying, baking, boiling, or mashing. Did you ever realize so much went into bringing potatoes to your plate?
Potato breeding and variety development involves numerous researchers with unique areas of expertise. Working together they thoroughly consider each part of the production cycle in choosing suitable varieties. Production factors such as chemical and irrigation efficiency, climate and weather, management of weeds, insects, and microscopic pests, and harvest, storage, and transportation are just some of the pieces to this complicated puzzle.
One such researcher with special expertise on potato improvement is Dr. Senthilkumar Shanmugavel.
Dr. Shanmugavel grew up in an agricultural family in India, which cultivated his deep interest in farming. He pursued a Ph.D. in Biotechnology and Molecular Breeding at the Indian Council of Agricultural Research. His passion for plants and technology led him to various research positions, where he acquired valuable skills in molecular breeding and bioinformatics. This experience led to his current role working under Dr. Vidyasagar Sathuvalli in the Tri-State Potato Variety Development Program.
Dr. Shanmugavel’s work is aimed at developing new markers and identification of genes responsible for Potato Virus Y (PVY) resistance. The PVY complex causes disease in many types of plants and crops, including potatoes. While PVY is fatal in many cases, some plants only show mild or no symptoms, which makes it difficult for seed growers to remove diseased plants. This problem leaves whole fields vulnerable to infection.
Although PVY does not harm people or animals, the virus poses a significant threat to the U.S. potato industry and seed trade. Thus this complicated work is vital to our nation’s food supply.
Disease screening is an essential part of any plant breeding program, which is best accomplished by integrating pesticides, cultural management, and host resistance.
“It’s a joint effort to get many different eyes working to select the best potatoes”, according to Dr. Jonathan Whitworth, a research plant pathologist with the USDA ARS, based in Aberdeen, Idaho.
“When a potato line becomes a new variety, it has involved the effort of all three states and the USDA ARS,” explained Dr. Whitworth.
Interestingly, he noted, “some of the reds and colored-skinned potatoes that we select in Klamath are so much deeper colored.”
Each year this breeding program starts with a new ‘batch’ of clones to assess. This year’s trial involved approximately 50,000 unique clones, derived from hybridizations of 195 russet-types, 50 chip-types, and 37 specialty-types of potatoes. Ultimately, less than two percent of these clones were selected to continue for a second year of evaluation. In addition to this year’s batch, 678 varieties retained from the 2023 trial and 146 varieties from the 2022 trial were also grown and reviewed here in Klamath Falls. Only about 10 to 15 percent of the varieties from prior trials with superior characteristics will continue forward in each subsequent year.
Along with selecting for improvements, the breeding program is also trying to predict and match future market trends and have enough quality breeding material that will meet those demands as they arise.
On average, it takes 12 to 15 years of evaluation to eventually release a new variety to the industry. Only a miniscule fraction of the tens of thousands of clones that began the journey will eventually become a new variety, according to Brian Charlton, Director of the Klamath Basin Research Station. When a variety makes it to the top, it is because it brings an improvement over varieties currently grown.
Since inception, over 40 varieties have been released to the industry through the Tri-State Potato Research and Breeding Program. These varieties are now planted on approximately 165,000 acres in the Pacific Northwest with an estimated value to growers of $825 million annually.
Basin Ag News, Herald and News
By Chelsea Shearer & Marcio Nunes