CFC 10998
Press Room / Press Releases
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From left to right: Isabel Alvarez, David Talledo, Antonio Brack, Carlos Ochoa, Leoncio Quinto and his children, Stef De Haan, Pamela Anderson, Uriel García and two chopcca translators.
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On Thursday 22 March, in the Cultural Center of the Catholic University, the International Potato Center (CIP) launched two books that contribute to the study of the Peruvian potato, one strictly scientific, the other anthropological. Both publications constitute a clear example of the contribution that CIP makes to the science and traditional knowledge of the potatoes in Peru.
Originally published in Spanish nine years ago, the English translation of the book “The Potatoes of South America: Peru”, from the internationally recognized Peruvian taxonomist Carlos Ochoa, offers a meticulous description of almost one hundred wild species of Peruvian potatoes. These represent more than 50 percent of the wild species known at present in the American continent. The book summarizes 30 years of intensive collecting of potato plants throughout Peru by Dr. Ochoa.
The “Catalogue of Native Potatoes Varieties of Huancavelica, Peru”, in Spanish, is a unique publication describing 144 potato varieties native to the Huancavelica region, in the Central Andes of Peru. The descriptions were prepared in collaborating with a number of Chopcca families concerned about the conservation of these varieties. Each variety is also described in the local language Quechua. The Chopccas are one of the oldest Andean ethnic groups, little known with the vast Peruvian territory.
This book appears at a significant point for the Huancavelica farmers, especially for the Chopcca. Recently a severe unseasonal frost destroyed almost the whole of the potato crop and other agricultural staples in the region. Many of the varieties of native potatoes described in the catalogue, which have be handed down from generation to generation, were destroyed as a consequence of this natural disaster. However, CIP has samples of most of the varieties conserved in its genebank and is committed to restoring the lost varieties to the Chopccas. This is another clear example of the value of ex situ conservation of genetic diversity.
The books were launched with a series of interesting presentations from a diverse group of experts. The biodiversity and natural resources specialist Antonio Brack, the anthropologist Isabel Alvarez, the pathologist and indigenist Uriel Garcia, the President of the Peruvian Society of Genetics Dr David Talledo, and the journalist Raul Vargas talked about different aspects of the Peruvian potatoes.
The Director of CIP, Dr. Pamela K. Anderson said in her remarks: “We, at CIP, have already taken action to recover the genetic material of native potatoes that has been lost to the frost, and we will support all other possible action so that the potato fields of Huancavelica flourish again”.
Mr. Leoncio Quinto, representing of the ethnic group Chopcca, transmitted the greeting of his community in quechua, his native language.
At the end of the presentation, participants had the opportunity to taste delicious snacks prepared with native potatoes by two prestigious schools of cuisine from Lima: Le Cordon Bleu and Gastrotur, as well as by CIP chefs.
