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Potato, a valuable crop in the developing countries and everywhere.

Hundreds of millions of people in the developing countries are facing crisis as the cost of their staple foods continues to rise. Rice prices have almost doubled during 2008 and wheat prices are climbing rapidly. But the price of the potato, the world’s third most important food crop, has remained stable.

Long taken for granted in developed countries, the potato has the potential to relieve the pressure of increasing cereal prices on the poorest people and contribute significantly to food security, according to experts at the International Potato Centre in Lima, Peru. Potato is a crop that is grown and eaten locally, with little significant international trade compared to cereals, so it is particularly valuable as a food in the developing countries.

“Today, hundreds of millions of people in the developing countries depend on potatoes,” said Dr. Pamela K. Anderson, director general of the Potato Centre. “Together, the populations of Africa, Asia and Oceania eat over 113 million tonnes of potatoes per year. Many developing countries are turning to the potato to feed their populations, and to help to feed the millions born every year.”

World production reached a record 320 million tonnes in 2007; more importantly, production in the developing countries has almost doubled since 1991, with a corresponding increase in consumption. Since the war stopped in Angola, potato production has increased by 1200 percent. Since 1961, Rwanda's potato output has risen from less than 100 000 tonnes to just under 1.3 million tonnes in 2007.  China is the world’s leading potato grower, producing 72 million tonnes, followed by Russia, India, and the Ukraine, then the United States.

But the potential of the potato has yet to be fully realized – which has never been more evident until the recent rising prices of rice, wheat and maize.

Past research has greatly improved productivity, resistance to disease and raised potential earnings, but further research, and support for research, is needed. While average potato yields in North America and western Europe often reach 40 tonnes per hectare, yields in developing countries are usually below 20 tonnes per hectare. CIP scientists estimate that late blight, the fungus that killed a million Irish people in the Potato Famine of 1845-47, costs developing countries about $2.75 billion a year in lost production.

Potatoes are making a substantial contribution to meeting the need for food in the developing countries. Consumption has increased: from an average of 9 kg/person in 1961-63 to over 14 kg/person nowadays. The crop is fundamental in the diets of populations in countries in South America, Africa, Central Asia and Asia. Potatoes have many advantages as a food and cash crop. “Potatoes produce more nutrition, energy and edible biomass per unit area and time than any other major crop,” said Dr Anderson.

Potato growth rates have not only been increasing, but they have exceeded the growth rates for many other major food commodities in developing countries in recent years. As growth in production for maize, wheat, and rice slowed — in some cases (e.g. wheat) considerably — in the last decade, potato output surged ahead, thereby increasing potato's impact and potential, particularly in Asia.

In late March 2008, CIP hosted a world conference with the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization that produced the “Cusco Challenge,” a rallying call to the global potato research and development community to place potato science at the service of the poor.