Genetic Improvement: What will the potato of the future be like?

In the coming decades, climate change will make it increasingly difficult to grow this tuber. That is why researchers are working tirelessly to find the potato of the future: one that will be able to adapt and withstand these conditions in the coming years.

Below are some examples of these investigations, which all have one thing in common: the desire to avoid the use of pesticides and fungicides.

This is a germination test: they are used to check whether seeds obtained by crossbreeding develop germs before being grown in a greenhouse. © Juliette Pitisci

The variety of the future will be the most robust

At the Libramont Centre for Agricultural Research in Wallonia, the search for a robust potato is a constant and difficult one. And a lot is demanded of this futuristic potato. It must be able to withstand periods of drought, but also the potato’s number one enemy:   mildew, a fungus that is widespread in Belgium   and can destroy entire crops.

“Yields are falling because of this fungus. That is why, to prevent it, potato cultivation relies heavily on fungicides: 15 to 20 treatments can be carried out per year. We are trying to reduce spraying by looking for naturally more resistant varieties,” explains Fadia Chairi, head of the breeding programme.

To  develop new varieties  , the team crosses them manually. "We choose parents that have different qualities. We try to create a diversity of seeds that we will test at different levels," explains the researcher.

It may seem like nothing, but it is extremely difficult. “Genetic improvement work takes a long time. To create a new variety, you have to go through a process that takes about ten years.”

And the difficulty is even greater because mildew is constantly adapting to new treatments and new varieties. “So far we have not yet found the future variety that will resist all this, something is always missing. It is a long job, but we will find it.”

We would forget the essential: flavor.

It is good to find resistant varieties. It is better to find tasty and resistant varieties. This is the mission of Magali Boreux, head of the quality analysis laboratory at CRA-W. She carries out culinary tests on new varieties.

Armed with a camera, a table full of very precise criteria and, of course, freshly cooked potatoes, she begins her observations. "For example, I have to give a score between 0 and 8 for colour, cooking behaviour, pulp strength," she says as she mashes the potatoes.

The varieties developed in this laboratory are culinary tested after 4 years. Everything is analysed in detail: colour, firmness, moisture, etc. © Juliette Pitisci

This step takes place four years after the start of germination trials. "The important thing is to determine its culinary type (firm or tender flesh for example). It must always retain a culinary interest. If we find a potato that is resistant to disease but unattractive, it will not meet consumer expectations." In short: we ask a lot of things of this potato.

A robot to detect anomalies

Potatoes  cannot be separated from their cultivation. And here, too, innovations are promising. At the Terra Research Centre in Gembloux, there is no shortage of ideas.

For example, Professor Benoît Mercatoris is working on a prototype of a robot that could significantly help farmers. “The robot moves around the fields,” explains the researcher. “Thanks to its measuring tools, such as thermal cameras, it will send back many indicators that the farmer would not be able to see with the naked eye. This will give him information about the growth of the plants. With the help of artificial intelligence, the robot could also move around the crops on its own without human intervention.”

How could this robot help our potato? “This allows us to create alert systems to know when the plant is under attack, when it is stressed and therefore to be able to act at the right time, as early as possible and in a very targeted way” and thus reduce and avoid useless spraying on all plots.

Solutions against larvae that love potatoes (too much)

It is not only late blight that threatens potato crops. Insects do too.

The wireworm, for example, has a great affection for our national tuber. It can live for several years in the soil and digs galleries in potatoes. "Since the chemical pesticide that killed this larva was banned, it has reappeared in crops and is very difficult to kill," explains Fanny Ruhland, a researcher in chemical and behavioural ecology. "With climate change, we will have higher temperatures and alternating periods of very dry or very rainy weather. This will increase the populations of these larvae but also of aphids, which transmit a virus to the potato. That is why we are looking to develop products to "biologically control these insect populations."

Fanny Ruhland is working on a  biodegradable formulation of an   algae-based “pesticide” that comes in the form of tiny beads. “This will attract the larva with the smell of potatoes and then kill them with a microorganism that is already present in the soil. This solution will not kill all populations, but they should be replaced with “other types of solutions such as crop rotations or the establishment of flower strips that attract pests. Combined, these ideas can protect potato crops.”

Helping potatoes with probiotics

The latest example of solutions: natural probiotics to help our potatoes defend themselves. This is the favourite field of microbiologist Adrien Anckaert. “We use microorganisms present in the soil to help the potato protect itself better. Humans have an intestinal microbiota, which we can help with probiotics. Well, it’s the same here. The potato has a microbiota and probiotics will help it resist “climate change and different pathogens.”

These researchers say that there will be no miracle solution to ensure healthy and profitable potato cultivation in the future. The key will be in a multitude of measures that, when taken together, may one day allow us to grow this tuber that we love so much with peace of mind.