Ithaca, New York
August 2, 2002
Cornell University potato breeders are donating a
disease-resistant potato to Russia in an effort to help combat
aggressive strains of potato late blight that are threatening to
devastate the nation's essential small farms.
The Cornell-developed New York 121 potato, which also is able to
fend off golden nematodes, scab and potato virus Y (PVY), will
be given to Dokagene Technologies, a company specializing in
producing
pathogen-free seed in Russia, in a meeting and a field trip in
Moscow on Aug. 20.
Dokagene will begin multiplying the potato seed, and the company
hopes that it will have enough to begin commercial distribution
in Russia within three or four growing seasons.
"Potato seed can become contaminated with viruses and other
soil-borne pathogens," says K. V. Raman, professor of plant
breeding and executive director of the Cornell Eastern Europe
Mexico (CEEM) program. "Over the next few years, Dokagene will
propagate the potato seed, while Cornell expertise will act as a
scientific backstop to ensure the availability of healthy seed."
During their visit to Moscow, Cornell scientists will develop
seed-multiplication procedures with Dokagene researchers. Also,
they will review existing late blight projects and establish a
plan for
integrated late blight disease management involving a consortium
of scientists from the European Union, Eastern Europe and the
United States.
"After China, Russia is the second largest producer of potatoes
in the world. It is considered the second bread for many parts
of Russia. A severe late blight problem could put millions of
people in
harm's way, and such a horrible problem could possibly
destabilize the region," says Ronnie Coffmann, Cornell professor
of plant breeding.
Dokagene, a subsidiary of Troika Potato International of Elkton,
MD, and Prince Edward Island, Canada, will recoup the expense of
development, packaging, distribution and research by charging
Russian market rates for the seed. An additional advantage for
Russian farmers in growing the New York 121 variety is that the
potato does not require pesticides or fertilizers.
During their visit to Russia, the Cornell group will visit the
Dokagene propagation facilities near Moscow and farmers whose
crops are grown on small plots called kitchen gardens.
These small farmers annually grow 3.4 million hectares (8.4
million acres) of potatoes with an average yield of 10 tons per
hectare. Annual Russian potato production is between 34 million
and 39 million
tons .
New strains of the devastating fungus-like disease called
Phytopthora infestans, or late blight, are far more aggressive
than their ancestors that triggered the Irish potato famine of
the 1840s. Due to commercial transportation, involving both
imports and exports of potatoes, the disease has evolved through
sexual mating. Unlike the old strains, the new pathogen can
survive harsh winters in the soil,
further endangering crops.
Because of a drought-caused potato shortage in 1976, the former
Soviet Union and the nations of Eastern Europe inadvertently
imported the disease in shipments of 25,000 tons of potatoes
from Mexico, where the late blight pathogen originated.
Beginning in the 1980s, Western Europe successfully battled the
pathogen with integrated pest management measures, which
included the selective use of fungicides, says William E. Fry,
Cornell professor of plant pathology. Russia's
troubled economy makes pesticides unaffordable for the nation's
myriad small farms.
The story of the late blight pathogen is complex. The two mating
types of the organism, A-1 and A-2, are both short-lived on
their own. The Irish potato famine was caused only by A-1, which
had
escaped from Mexico. After the famine, the A-1 continued to be
the only strain found outside Mexico, according to Fry. "Sexual
reproduction didn't occur then because partner mating types were
found only in Mexico," he says.
When potato tubers from Mexico arrived in Europe and the Soviet
Union in 1976, some contained the A-2 strain, permitting A1 and
A2 organisms to reproduce sexually and create oospores, the
resting
state of the pathogen. The pathogens proliferate freely and
survive in the soil despite harsh winter conditions. When warm
and moist summers arrive, they attack the potatoes and destroy
the harvest.
These spores reproduce and adapt other characteristics.
In the growing seasons between 1990 and 2000, the St. Petersburg
region of Russia saw seven blight years, the Moscow region saw
five and Siberia saw three. The federation's Sakhalin Island,
north of
Hokkaido, Japan, saw blighted potato harvests every year in the
1990s.
CEEM scientists believe that the New York 121 and other
varieties form the foundation for fighting late blight. The
development of New York 121 dates back more than 30 years when
Robert Plaisted, Cornell
professor emeritus of plant breeding, acquired seeds of potato
varieties grown in the Andes mountains of South America.
Repeated selection for adaptation to the New York region and for
disease resistance produced the E74-7, the mother of NY 121.
This variety was important because of its extreme resistance to
potato mosaic viruses.
In 1984 Plaisted obtained seeds, from the International Potato
Center in Peru that had resistance to multiple races of the
golden nematode, a soil-borne pest. One generation of breeding
produced N43-288, the male parent of New York 121. This parent
is mostly of Peruvian ancestry, but includes a wild species from
Argentina.
By breeding the E74-7 with the N43-288 about 11 years ago,
Plaisted developed a potato with multiple resistance. Typically
it takes 14 years to bring a newly tested and developed potato
to market, but New York 121 took less than a decade. This
mid-season potato fits well with Russian needs since it is good
for both boiling and baking.
Dokagene will import a total of 11 other new potato varieties
into Russia, seven of which were bred at Cornell. They include:
- Reba---- A mid-season variety
bred for both the potato-chip market and table use. It is
resistant to the golden nematode and moderately resistant to
early blight, verticillium wilt and scab.
- Salem ---- A mid-season potato
with high-yielding ability, bred for table stock. It is
resistant to the golden nematode and scab.
- Keuka Gold ---- A yellow-flesh
potato, good for boiling, flavor and high yields. It is
resistant to scab and golden nematodes.
- Eva ---- A bright-white-skin
potato, good for boiling. It is resistant to the mosaic virus,
golden nematode and scab, and can be stored for a long time.
- Pike ---- A round potato with
a buff skin, good for making potato chips. It is resistant to
golden nematode and scab.
- New York 128 ---- A white,
round potato for chipping. This offspring of New York 121 is
resistant to the golden nematode and late blight.
CEEM's work in Eastern Europe is
funded by the Atlantic Philanthropic Service, the U.S.
Department of Agriculture's Foreign Agricultural Service, and
the International Science and Technology Center.
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