Quality in the Breed Quality in the Seed

The most recent Collaborative agreement signed in 2019 confirms the commitment of both parties to potato variety improvement into the future. In the early years, some of the key objectives were to develop new varieties with better resistance to disease and pests, particularly late blight and potato cyst nematode (PCN). The variety Cara introduced in the mid 1970’s, with resistance to PCN and late blight was an outstanding success in the UK, Canary Islands and the Mediternean region. Rooster introduced in 1990 is by far the preferred potato variety in Ireland. It’s a favourite with growers due to its excellent combination of disease resistance, good storage characteristics and high yield and its versatility in the kitchen has helped make it the success that it is.

The successes of Cara and Rooster are followed by many other new varieties introduced over the decades, such as Burren, Banba, Orla and Electra which brought yield and quality improvement to growers and other stakeholders through the supply chain. While in the early years the breeding focus was predominantly on the fresh sector, much greater emphasis has been placed on developing varieties for the processing (French fry and crisp/snack) sector. Fidelity is a very promising new variety introduced for the crisping sector, and several other promising seedlings are at an advanced stage of development for the French fry sector.

The techniques used to evaluate breeding lines have also changed over the decades. Marker aided selection (MAS) is now used in the breeding programme, whereby genetic markers have been developed which can confirm the inheritance of desirable genes from parents to progeny, making the breeding process faster and more efficient. MAS is mainly used to identify seedlings which have inherited resistance to PCN, and has been deployed very effectively in the development of the variety Buster, which has exceptional resistance to both species of PCN. New markers are constantly under development for other traits.

IPM and Teagasc staff work together in identifying priorities for potato breeding into the future, and in selecting seedlings at sites in Ireland, the UK, and various other trial sites in the Mediterranean and North African region. Historic priorities like yield, pest & disease resistance, heat tolerance and good storage characteristics are still important, and newer priorities such as drought tolerance, lower fertiliser requirement, lower pesticide requirements and lower energy requirements attract greater emphasis.