A team of researchers from Peru’s National Institute of Agricultural Innovation has identified 130 varieties of native potato, according to news reports.
The research project is part of the country’s effort to catalogue the different types of potato and its classifications. The data collected will be added to the National Registry of the Native Potato of Peru, and is part of a plan by the South American nation to develop new potato varieties.
The International Potato Center (CIP) is among the three agencies that have signed agreements to fund the research into new potato varieties. According to a CIP report, there are more than 4,000 varieties of potatoes that can be found in the Andean highlands of Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru. Officials admit that there are still varieties that have not been discovered or identified yet.
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