A single medium-sized potato contains about half the daily adult requirement of vitamin C.

CIP maintains the world's largest bank of potato germplasm, including some 1500 samples of about 100 wild species collected in eight Latin American countries and 3800 traditional Andean cultivated potatoes. The collection is maintained under the auspices of the FAO and is available to plant breeders worldwide free upon request. [See also the International Treaty and the CGIAR]. The SINGER website provides detailed information about CIP's genetic resource collection for potato]

History

Potato (Solanum tuberosum) originated in the highlands of South America, where it has been consumed for more than 8000 years. Spanish explorers brought the plant to Europe in the late 16th century as a botanical curiosity. By the 19th century it had spread throughout the continent, providing cheap and abundant food for the workers of the Industrial Revolution. [read more]

Potato routes: A remarkable journey
(1 MB - Powerpoint presentation)

Multimedia presentation based on The Potato: Treasure of the Andes

Nutrition

A single medium-sized potato contains about half the daily adult requirement of vitamin C. Other staples such as rice and wheat have none. Potato is very low in fat, with just 5 percent of the fat content of wheat, and one-fourth the calories of bread. Boiled, it has more protein than maize, and nearly twice the calcium.

Global production

Today, potato is the fourth most important food crop in the world, with annual production approaching 300 million tons. More than one-third of the global potato output now comes from developing countries, up from just 11 percent in the early 1960s. CIP has played an important role in this shift, providing resource-poor farmers with a range of new technologies and potato breeding lines specifically designed for developing-country conditions. [See Potato Facts and World Potato Atlas]

Conservation

The dedication and effort of pioneer taxonomist Carlos Ochoa formed the foundation of the CIP-held collection of potato genetic resources. This Peruvian scholar, whose crusade to find wild species in the Andes began more than 40 years ago, has discovered 80 different species—about one-third of all the wild potatoes known to exist. [see more about conservation of potato genetic resources]

Russian geneticist Nikolai I. Vavilov and his colleagues were the first plant collectors and explorers to gather comprehensive potato samples from the Andean region. Vavilov conducted explorations in more than 50 countries during the 1920s and 1930s. He obtained numerous samples of potatoes and their wild relatives in expeditions to South America. Afterwards, Peruvians like Ochoa continued the arduous labor of exploration and collection of plant species.