Report Text

Potatoes

Indicators Potato
General Classification  Is a tuberous crop from the family of Solanum tuberosum.

Characteristic  A plant that included in herbaceous perennials

 grow about 60 cm high depending on variety

 Potatoes are cross-pollinated mostly by insects.

 Potato fruit contains large amounts of the toxic alkaloid solanine

and is therefore unsuitable for consumption.

Growth and Plantation Potato varieties are grown from seeds, also called "true seed" or
"botanical seed" to distinguish it from seed tubers.

Cultivation  The potato crop is usually grown not from seed but from "seed
potatoes"

 Purity of the cultivars and healthy seed tubers are essential for a
successful crop.
 Potato is a tuberous crop from the family of Solanum tuberosum. In the region of the Andes,
there are some other closely related cultivated potato species. Potatoes were introduced outside the
Andes region four centuries ago, and have become an integral part of much of the world's food. It is
the world's fourth-largest food crop after rice, wheat and maize. Long-term storage of potatoes
requires specialised care in cold warehouses. Potato plants are herbaceous perennials that grow
about 60 cm high, depending on variety, the culms dying back after flowering. Potatoes are cross-
pollinated mostly by insects, including bumblebees, which carry pollen from other potato plants, but
a substantial amount of self-fertilizing occurs as well.

After potato plants flower, some varieties produce small green fruits that resemble green
cherry tomatoes, each containing up to 300 seeds. Potato fruit contains large amounts of the toxic
alkaloid solanine and is therefore unsuitable for consumption. All new potato varieties are grown
from seeds, also called "true seed" or "botanical seed" to distinguish it from seed tubers. By finely
chopping the fruit and soaking it in water, the seeds separate from the flesh by sinking to the bottom
after about a day.

There are about 5,000 potato varieties worldwide. Three thousand of them are found in the
Andes alone, mainly in Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, Chile, and Colombia. They belong to eight or nine
species, depending on the taxonomic school. There are about 200 wild species and subspecies, many
of which can be cross-bred with cultivated varieties.

The potato crop is usually grown not from seed but from "seed potatoes" - small tubers or
pieces of tuber sown to a depth of 5 to 10 cm. Purity of the cultivars and healthy seed tubers are
essential for a successful crop. Tuber seed should be disease-free, well-sprouted and from 30 to 40 g
each in weight. Use of good quality commercial seed can increase yields by 30 to 50 percent,
compared to farmers' own seed, but expected profits must offset the higher cost. The planting
density of a row of potatoes depends on the size of the tubers chosen, while the inter-row spacing
must allow for ridging of the crop . Usually, about two tonnes of seed potatoes are sown per hectare.
For rainfed production in dry areas, planting on flat soil gives higher yields while irrigated crops are
mainly grown on ridges.

Potatoes are sensitive to heavy frosts, which damage them in the ground. Even cold weather
makes potatoes more susceptible to bruising and possibly later rotting, which can quickly ruin a large
stored crop.