b'touted about maximums a given plant canwater hungry plants. Part of that transition will be including produce when he was a university studentTai notes that even if a better varietyshifting climate and weather patterns as have all been broken.is selected by breeders, there must bea key consideration for variety adoption, I dont see a limitation on potatoadoption by processors that includesnot just yield potential of a given potato breeding, he says. Physically it can yieldadjustments to the existing productionvariety.100 pounds per acre, but I would not seesystem on the farm, in the storage and onAs we face these climate challenges, any limitation for 100 to 120. Genetically,the fry processing line. In North America,one of them will be can we maintain we should be able to work towards that.she says 30 per cent of all potatoes areour resources for irrigation? That really Theres still a long way to go, but I see inRusset Burbank, destined to becomedrives the interest in getting crops that younger material we have, we are comingfrench fries. dont require lots of water, she says. A lot with varieties with much higher yield. WeRusset Burbank dominates theof growers need to pay for water rights. can continue to build on that. production in the U.S. and Canada, sheThese sorts of things will be driving more says. When we talk about improvinginterest in reduced water use.A Tricky Trait varieties for Canada, its limited to someAdditionally, potatoes are eager for Its easy enough to set the goal to developextent because of the end usage. Rightnitrogen, another input with sky-high low water use potatoes, but it certainlynow, something has to displace Russetcosts, and farmers will also want to know takes meticulous work in laboratoryBurbank. Many growers would say, Iabout varieties that carry a lower nitrogen settings and the field and during thedont like growing Russet Burbanks, butrequirement, as well. Beyond that, first few years of variety trials, explainsthats my contract. though, is shifting the preferences of the Helen Tai, federal potato geneticist inTai says variety utilization is driven bypotato industry as a whole, though.Fredericton, N.B. Of the 60,000 or soindustry, and sector-wide collaborationThe adoption question is one thats annual progeny in the breeding program,will be needed to drive change to lowerreally important, she says. You can only one, maybe two tubers, are selectedwater use varieties. develop varieties, but to get them adopted to go forward. Theres lots of interest in processorsand utilized is really the next step. Its a complicated trait and it wouldand growers, she says. Industry has require a lot of replication to ensure itsto have a lot of support to make this happening, she says, adding potatoes aretransition.SPUDSMART.COM Summer 202219'