In Peru's mountainous Callejón de Conchucos, 300 kilometers north of Lima, potato farmers are growing crops that produce an average of 45 tons per hectare, roughly three times the national average, and on a par with commercial yields in the United States and Europe. What's more, they have done it despite an extended drought and a late blight epidemic.

The farmers' success is largely due to a true potato seed (TPS) hybrid known locally as Chacasina. Selected in 1993 by CIP scientist Rolando Cabello, Chacasina incorporates the highly prized culinary qualities of its traditional-type female parent, Yungay, with the high productivity, early maturity, and late blight resistance of its CIP breeding line parent.

Yungay was originally developed in the 1950s by Carlos Ochoa, a CIP taxonomist and plant explorer. Adapted to highland conditions, Yungay grows well in poor soils and is tolerant of drought and mild frost. Consumers appreciate its creamy color and melt-in-your-mouth texture. Its major drawback is its susceptibility to late blight. Moreover, as with most Andean potatoes, the quality of its seed deteriorates quickly-a major problem for cash-poor farmers who tend to put off buying new planting materials until yields are unacceptably low.

CIP economist Hugo Fano says that the Callejón de Conchucos is typical of many high-altitude Andean environments. Infrastructure is basic at best. Drought is the rule rather than the exception, and plant diseases are a constant threat. Farmers have little money to invest in agricultural inputs, and much of what they grow they consume themselves. Yet farm families are extremely quality-conscious. "Throughout the Andes, the most important consideration is flavor," Fano says. "Chacasina doesn't just produce higher yields-people also like it."

In search of seed

CIP's involvement in the region began in 1992, when an Italian priest, Hugo De Censi, came to Lima from the drought-plagued town of Chacas in search of potato seed to bring back to his hungry parish. As in many potato-growing communities, Chacas farmers lacked seeds to plant after four years of severe drought. In response, Cabello provided De Censi with a bag of TPS from a white-fleshed variety called Gringa, then quickly set to breeding what would come to be known as Chacasina. When the new variety was ready, Cabello and other CIP scientists helped the parish begin producing sexual seed for itself.

The new cultivar differs from other TPS because its parents can be cross-pollinated naturally as they grow side by side in the field to produce uniform true seed. This is possible because its mother, Yungay, is male-sterile and its CIP father is a prolific pollen producer.

In 1995, with financial help from the government of Peru and the United States Agency for International Development, CIP decided to deepen its commitment. This enabled the parish to build seedbeds, nurseries, and warehouses-not just in Chacas, but also in five nearby provinces. By the end of 1996, Chacasina was being grown in 11 test plots and more than 100 farmers' fields. "The farmers adapt much more quickly than the scientists do," says Fano. "They see what needs to be done and they go out and do it."

Results have been more than encouraging. "Local farmers are accustomed to harvesting between 3 and 10 kg of potatoes for every kilogram of seed potatoes they plant," Fano says. "With Chacasina-which is planted in the form of small minitubers-yields have been between 20 and 42 kg per kg of seed." Instead of reserving two tons from every hectare of harvested potatoes for use in the next planting, farmers can plant just 300 kg-and get much higher yields. That's on top of the fact that Chacasina seed is about half the price per kg of the other high-quality seeds available on the market. After just two years, the project is virtually paying for itself.

"This year, we're not getting any seed from outside," reports Edmundo Egúsquiza, a Chacas schoolteacher who is helping coordinate the project. Egúsquiza says the community hopes to produce at least 200 kg of TPS in 1997, enough for more than 4,000 hectares-far more than what is needed.

Questions remain

For CIP scientists, several questions still need to be answered. Noël Pallais, who heads the project, says that it remains to be seen how many generations of seed potatoes Chacasina will produce before the quality deteriorates beyond usable levels. And while few people in the Callejón de Conchucos turn up their noses at the quality of Chacasina, consumer preferences in other Andean regions differ. The evidence indicates that similarly robust hybrids-matching local tastes and needs-can be produced for these areas.

Farmers trained in traditional farming methods also need to learn how best to take advantage of the new technology. Recognizing this, in September 1996, scientists from CIP, Peru's Ministry of Agriculture (INIA), and the National Agricultural University at La Molina presented a series of workshops in Chacas and other towns covering TPS production to fertilizer and water management.

"In the town of Llamellín, two farmers were so happy with the course that they cried at the end," says Rolando Cabello. "One of the priests who helped organize the workshop told us that what we had done came from heaven, that it was something supernatural."

Edmundo Egúsquiza is a religious man, but his assessment is more down to earth. "Now we have a stock of seed," he says. "It's good to know that we are protected if anything should happen."

Editor's Note: Regrettably, in March 1997 something did happen. A priest assigned to the project was killed by an unknown gunman. Reliable sources believe that the tragedy was not the act of terrorists. Ironically, the 1997 harvest of TPS-some 300 kg of seed-may have equaled the annual record set by commercial TPS producers in other parts of Latin America and in Asia. Reliable sources indicate that the Chacasina project will continue in the future without outside assistance.