By Blake Jackson
Potatoes remain America’s favorite vegetable, contributing about $100 billion to the U.S. economy each year. While most large-scale potato production now takes place in western states, New York still plays a vital role in shaping the industry, thanks to Cornell University’s potato breeding program.
Established more than 160 years ago, the program works closely with farmers and processors to develop improved potato varieties that are now grown across the country.
Cornell’s impact on the industry is far-reaching, having produced more than 50 varieties. Among them are the nation’s most widely used potatoes for chips, along with varieties resistant to the destructive golden nematode pest, explained Walter De Jong, professor of plant breeding and genetics.
“The processing quality of our potatoes is probably the best in the world, and that would not be possible without many decades of effort and cooperation between scientists, growers and processors,” De Jong said.
“The breeding program I inherited was one with excellent communication between breeders and stakeholders when I was interviewed at Cornell 20-some years ago, there was a potato grower even on the search committee. Those kinds of relationships are hard to start, but once they go, they’re fantastic.”
For nearly 50 years, from 1956 to 2000, professor emeritus Robert Plaisted led Cornell’s potato breeding program. His greatest challenge was combating the golden nematode, first detected on Long Island in 1941. The pest feeds on potato roots, reducing plant growth and yield.
“At the time, the control method was fumigation,” Plaisted said. “But a few years into the program, they discovered on the research farm that the well from which the irrigation water was being pumped had signs of the fumigant. The well water on Long Island is sacred, so they immediately prohibited the further application of the nematicide.”
Plaisted and his colleagues introduced resistant South American potato varieties and crossed them with Scottish lines suited to New York’s climate. These resistant varieties soon replaced fumigation as the solution.
Today, nearly every Cornell release carries nematode resistance, and because Cornell stock is used nationwide, the trait is embedded in varieties across the U.S.
“If golden nematodes ever do appear someplace else, there are resistant varieties being used everywhere,” De Jong noted. “Out of everything our program has done, I’m most proud that we’ve spread nematode resistance across the country it’s almost the equivalent of a vaccination.”
Photo Credit: gettyimages-npantos
Categories: New York, Crops, Fruits and Vegetables, Education