Root sampling for resilient nordic potatoes
SustainPotato is developing resilient Nordic potato varieties by studying how genetics and microbiomes affect resistance to diseases like late blight. Now, the first round of root sampling are complete.
Diseases are the biggest challenge in potato cultivation, and climate change is expected to make them even more pressing. SustainPotato brings together three potato breeding programs from Sweden, Norway, and Denmark, as well as researchers from these countries and Estonia.
The project focuses on developing more robust Nordic potato varieties that are better adapted to cope with skin blemish diseases and late blight (Phytophthora infestans). Late blight is a destructive disease that has affected agriculture since the 1840s. Today, 20–30% of all pesticides in Sweden and Norway are used to control late blight.
Now, the first batch of root sampling from this year’s yield trials in the project has been completed. In total, 2600 samples were collected at Danespo field trial site in Give, Denmark. These trials aim to uncover how potato genotypes influence microbiome recruitment, how this affects resistance to late blight, and how these interactions vary across different years.
– We are delighted with how smoothly this year’s sampling went. We had a great team with SLU researchers Farideh Ghadamgahi, Bekele Gelena Kelbessa, me and the team leader Aakash Chawade – as well as our dedicated collaborators at Danespo, Merethe Bagge and Mathias Timmermann Christiansen, says Ramesh Vetukuri.
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