This past December, a group of 11 private potato breeders from across the country launched an initiative that promises to improve the climate for potato breeding in Canada—the Canadian Private Potato Breeders’ Network, which according to its mission statement, “has been created so the participants can gain knowledge and enter into working relationships with each other, and with AAFC and CFIA of the federal government, to pursue common goals in areas of research associated with the breeding of new potato varieties in Canada.”
According to Joyce Coffin, owner of P.E.I.-based Privar Farm Inc., the network aims to pool resources and knowledge with government agencies to create efficiency throughout the potato breeding process. It also intends to facilitate dialogue between private breeders and major players on issues that rarely make it to the table. In general, says Coffin, “there’s not been a lot of emphasis on potato breeding in Canada, and [private breeders] are spread across the country and have different focuses. We need to have more dialogue with the federal government so it can benefit all of us.”
Private breeders in Canada face multiple challenges in breeding, registering, protecting and marketing new varieties. Plant Breeders’ Rights legislation is dated and difficult—it can cost private breeders up to $10,000 to protect new varieties. According to Coffin, this does not pose as much of a problem for processing potatoes—the breeder’s revenue from royalties of varieties used for processing offsets the costs incurred by the breeder to obtain Plant Breeders’ Rights—but for niche market candidates such as pigmented varieties, breeders must decide if the end product justifies the cost.
Increased collaboration with government could be helpful on multiple levels. “What I hope will happen is that AAFC will be the source for our genetic resources, the parental resources,” says Peter VanderZaag, owner of Sunrise Produce and board chair of the International Potato Center (CIP) in Lima, Peru. “We also want to stay very in tune with CFIA about genetic resources—there are a lot of issues with moving genetic resources across borders.”
The advancement of private breeding programs could mean greater success for the industry as a whole, VanderZaag believes. “I think that local breeding programs have a greater chance of having impact in their environmental or ecological zones than breeders thousands of miles away. It’s amazing how we’ve lost sight of the importance of local breeding, local selection,” he says. “That, to me, is a big advantage—even though we’re going more high-tech, there is still a need for grassroots work.”
If the adage “strength in numbers” holds true for the breeders’ network, Canadian growers should look forward to a more competitive industry in the near future. Stay tuned for updates, and email us with your thoughts at [email protected].
