Articles
RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN POTATO SEED PRODUCTION IN LATIN AMERICA
Potatoes grown in the Andes include a large diversity of native as well as improved varieties that belong to several species of Solanum, although most of them are S. tuberosum ssp. andigena. Peru and Bolivia are the countries with the largest concentration of native varieties, which are cultivated both as a commercial and a subsistence crop.
The potatoes grown in the Andes are adapted to the short daylength photoperiod determined by the proximity of the growing areas to the equator and to the high radiation and low temperatures prevalent at high altitudes.
Many Latin American countries outside of the Andean region grow potatoes of the ssp tuberosum.
These potatoes are adapted to the long daylength photoperiod and have, in general, higher temperature requirements for foliage and tuber growth than the andigena type.
The countries that grow the tuberosum type of potato may be grouped into two distinct geographic areas: 1) the northern area of Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean, including the northern part of Venezuela, and 2) the countries with production areas south of approximately 15° latitude that have long daylength during the growing season.
The varieties introduced into South and Central America from Europe and North America adapted well to those regions with similar climatic conditions and to some tropical and subtropical areas where the absence of long daylength photoperiod is compensated for by interaction with other climatic factors, mainly temperature.
The introduction of foreign varieties into Latin America and the slow development of their research programs made many Latin American countries heavily dependent on foreign technology for potato production and seed supply.
Over the last two decades, the development of potato research and the intensification of breeding programs by the national agricultural research institutes of the region led to the generation of local selections that eventually became new varieties.
Thus some countries that previously based their potato production almost exclusively on foreign varieties have been progressively replacing them with their own varieties.
As this change was taking place, they were also aware that the success of their breeding efforts depended primarily on the capacity of the program to generate good quality seed.
Therefore several countries in Latin America are now emphasising the development of seed programs to improve seed quality and increase production capacity.
In the Andes, potatoes have been cultivated for centuries in traditional systems in which the basic principle for good quality seed production rested on the location of the multiplication fields at high altitudes.
This system, in which the farmers in the lower altitudes periodically renew their seed stocks from higher altitudes, has maintained