The latest ideas, innovations and research on breeding better varieties of potato were discussed at an international conference on potato breeding and genetics held in Carlow this week (20 - 22 November 2006). The theme of the conference was ”The Science of Selection – Potato Breeding Methodology for the 21st Century”, and was attended by delegates from Europe, the US and Japan. The potato is the fourth most important crop plant in the world and Teagasc Crops Research Centre at Oak Park has a long history in developing new and improved varieties.

The conference, organised by Teagasc, brings together members of two organisations, Eucarpia (the European Plant Breeding Organisation) and the European Association for Potato Research, every three years to review the most recent scientific developments.

On a visit by delegates to the Teagasc Crops Research Centre, potato breeding researcher Denis Griffin said: “Potato breeding has been going on at Oak Park since the early 1960’s. The first breeder, Harry Kehoe, was soon joined by Leslie Dowley, and the programme had early success with the release of the variety Cara. A commercial agreement with Irish Potato Marketing to exclusively market Teagasc varieties ensured a sound commercial future and over thirty varieties have been released to date including Rooster, which is currently the most popular variety in Ireland. Our programme is constantly evolving to meet the demands of the modern consumer – for example, one of our new varieties, Orla, combines excellent eating quality with extreme resistance to late blight, making it very suitable for both the organic and conventional markets.

“The Teagasc potato breeding research programme, even with many successes, continues to increasingly target the processed potato market, while maintaining our record of producing excellent table varieties, so it is important that we use the most cutting-edge breeding techniques available, “ he said.

The conference explored the interface between commercial potato breeding and the latest developments in science. Biotechnology researcher, Dan Milbourne said: “Oak Park is currently a member of an international consortium which is sequencing the potato genome, much in the same way as was done for the human genome. This will allow us to identify almost everyone of the forty to fifty thousand genes in potato, potentially revolutionising our understanding of the fundamental biological processes that go into making a potato. That might sound like a very lofty academic goal, but this is the exact knowledge that will allow us to breed potatoes more efficiently. Breeders cross potato varieties with complementary characteristics to produce new varieties that combine the best of both parents. However, some of the characteristics, especially those relating to quality, are not inherited in a very predictable manner, mostly because they are controlled by many genes in the parents. Knowing what genes each parent possesses, and how these genes will combine in the progeny to affect the characteristics in question will allow breeders to produce high-performing new varieties much more efficiently.”