Innovation for Development:
The Papa Andina Experience
325
T e c h n o l o g i c a l i n n o v a t i o n f o r s u s t a i n a b l e d e v e l o p m e n t
Seed systems for native potatoes in Bolivia,Ecuador and Peru: Results of a diagnostic study
Oscar A. Hidalgo, Kurt Manrique, Claudio Velasco, André Devaux and Jorge Andrade-Piedra
A
BSTRACT
The Papa Andina Initiative of the International Potato Center (CIP) and its partners inBolivia, Ecuador and Peru promotes technological, commercial and institutionalinnovations along the potato chain to link small-scale farmers to new urban markets,taking advantage of potato biodiversity. Markets are responding and demandingsignificant volumes of high-quality native varieties. In order to meet this demand,farmers are challenged to improve the yield and quality of their crops, but one of themain limiting factors is availability of seed. A diagnostic of potato seed systems inthese three countries was carried out in early 2008. Main conclusions:
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The availability of most native varieties in the three countries depends onsmall farmers, who preserve these varieties in situ.
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In most cases, seed of native varieties is produced and distributed throughinformal or mixed systems, rather than through formal seed certificationsystems.
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Seed of native varieties is mainly consumed on the farm where it is grown.
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Factors causing seed degeneration are well understood for improved varieties,but not for native varieties.
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Many projects and organizations are currently helping farmers improve theirseed quality.
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Sustainability of a seed system depends on the quality requirements of theconsumption potato market, which becomes the driving force for thedevelopment of a market for quality seed.
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Mixed and informal seed systems are more likely to be able to meet the seedrequirements of small Andean farmers than are official seed certificationsystems.
I
NTRODUCTION
The potato is a staple food in the Andean countries. Hundreds of native varieties arevery well appreciated by farmers and their families because of their excellent culinary
1 Presented at the 15th Triennial Symposium of the International Society for Tropical RootCrops, 2009.
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Innovation for Development:
The Papa Andina Experience
T e c h n o l o g i c a l i n n o v a t i o n f o r s u s t a i n a b l e d e v e l o p m e n t
qualities. These varieties have now better and increased commercial prospects as bigcompanies, like Frito Lay, have developed new commercial products. In addition, theconsumption of fresh tubers is increasing. Part of the production is sold in urbanmarkets, and another part is used for home consumption, which make native varietiesvery important for food security. Unfortunately, small farmers obtain very low yields,partly due to poor seed quality. In order to accomplish new plans to expand markets,farmers are required to improve the production and quality of seed tubers. The Papa Andina Initiative of the International Potato Center and its partners inBolivia (PROINPA Foundation, Promoción e Investigación de Productos Andinos),Ecuador (INIAP, Instituto Nacional Autónomo de Investigaciones Agropecuarias) andPeru (INCOPA Project, Innovación y Competitividad de la Papa) implemented thisstudy to diagnose the current situation of the production systems of tuber seeds,focusing on native potato varieties of Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru, in order to proposeactions for improving these systems, especially for small farmers.
M
ETHODOLOGY
Secondary information was collected. Recent information was obtained in early 2008through direct observations in the field and interviews with farmers and officials of governmental and non-governmental organizations. Interviews were based on visitguidelines and a work plan previously established. The information received wasmainly qualitative.It was difficult to obtain information about volumes of native potatoes for freshconsumption, because official statistics on native potato production are inexistent.However, it was possible to obtain information on the volumes of certified seeds of improved and native varieties produced in Peru and Bolivia, but not in Ecuador. Afterthe field visits and interviews had been completed, a workshop was conducted ineach country to discuss the situation of the seed potato production. These meetingsallowed the experts to discuss the results of this study and also to implement someactions to improve the tuber seed production of native varieties.
R
ESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The results of this study relate to: (1) the situation of native varieties in each country;(2) the formal, informal and mixed seed potato production systems; (3) the potentialdemand and seed needs of native varieties; (4) problems affecting seed quality of native varieties; and (5) seed renewal practices.
Situation of native varieties in each country
The availability of native varieties in each country was established. In Ecuador, thereare approximately 400 native varieties grown by indigenous communities (INIAP,2006), but only 20 of them are present in local markets. Unfortunately, the originalcollections were lost, but INIAP is collecting these materials again. A publication of INIAP (INIAP-PNRT - Papa, 2005) mentions 17 commercial varieties grown in thecentral provinces of the country. FONTAGRO (Fondo Regional de Tecnología
Innovation for Development:
The Papa Andina Experience
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T e c h n o l o g i c a l i n n o v a t i o n f o r s u s t a i n a b l e d e v e l o p m e n t
Agropecuaria) is supporting a project to eliminate pathogens from several nativevarieties and multiply them for use in processing. FONTAGRO and two CIP projects(Cambio Andino and InnovAndes, Strengthening Capacity for Innovation and PovertyAlleviation in the Andes) are also promoting the production and commercialization of native varieties in the central Andes of Ecuador.In Bolivia, the PROINPA Foundation maintains a gene bank with approximately1,750 accessions. Of those, approximately 1,050 are multiplied (“refreshed”) toproduce seed tubers which are also used for commercial purposes. Every yearapproximately 150 to 200 accessions are cleaned-up. A catalog of potato varieties,mostly native ones, was produced in 2002 (Ugarte and Iriarte, 2002). Another catalogof potato and oca varieties of the Candelaria area was published in 2004, where 32native varieties are included (Cadima et al., 2004).Each region in Bolivia has its own native varieties that are utilized mainly for localconsumption. In the north of Potosi, 200 native varieties were characterized and fourwere selected to promote their use. Another five varieties are being used byAPROTAC (Asociación de Productores de Tubérculos Andinos de Candelaria), whichhas successfully consolidated the production and commercialization of seed andfresh tubers for the Cochabamba markets (Oros et al., 2007).In Peru in the department of Huánuco, Mr. Victoriano Fernández (Jr.), a farmer thatpreserves native varieties in the district of Quishki, indicated that he grows 437 nativevarieties for traditional home consumption and periodic sale. He also indicates thatthere are 14 other farmers who preserve native varieties, and that each farmermaintains around 200 to 300 varieties. It is also known that CIP has returned 104 virus-free native varieties to the local communities in Chogobamba (3,800 m.a.s.l.). In Junín,15 native potato varieties are being multiplied by the on-governmental organization(NGO) FOVIDA (Fomento de la Vida) and the CAPAC (Cadenas Agrícolas Productivasde Calidad) platform, for further process testing by Frito Lay. In addition, INIA(Instituto Nacional de Innovación Agropecuaria) maintains an in-vitro collection of 18pathogen-free native potato varieties, which was multiplied in Huancayo for the NGOADERS (Asociación para el Desarrollo Sostenible), to be used for the industry and freshconsumption. In the region of Aymara (Huancavelica) there are several farmers whomaintain native potato varieties; each farmer maintains approximately 400 varieties. AFONTAGRO project is supporting the evaluation of the processing aptitude of 12native varieties for chips and for mashing. In Paucarbamba, ADERS is conducting aseed project for multiplying five native varieties for industrial purposes. Farmersinvolved in this project attend farmer field schools (FFS) to receive training on seedproduction techniques. Some of these varieties are for fresh consumption in urbanmarkets. It is also important to mention that UNALM (Universidad Nacional Agraria LaMolina), CIP, and INIA have set up breeding programs designed to select improvedvarieties with colored flesh pigmentation for industrial and fresh consumptionpurposes.Finally, CIP maintains under custody the world potato gene bank made up of samples of the potato germplasm collected in the countries of the Andean Region.
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Seed systems for native potatoes in Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru: Results of a diagnostic study
The Papa Andina Initiative of the International Potato Center (CIP) and its partners in Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru promotes technological, commercial and institutional innovations along the potato chain to link small-scale farmers to new urban markets,…
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