b'INDUSTRYNEWSScientists Discover Wild Potatoes Key for Stronger Spuds PRODUCT NEWSPotatoes have been a staple of Britains diet for half a millennium, but new re- Yields More Than Doubled During Four-Year Projectsearch suggests that limited genetic differences in potato lineages has left BritishBayer presented challenges and best practice experiences with the implementation and American spuds vulnerable to the disease that caused the Irish potato famine. of its Root2Successs concept on the Continent during the African Potato Association Plant scientists at the University of Dundee and the James Hutton Institutecongress in Kigali, Rwanda. This holistic concept supports sustainable production have revealed commercial potato crops are under constant threat of late blight, thesystems covering crop rotation, soil preparation, catch and cover crops, and the use pathogen behind one of Europes most devastating famines, but wild potato genesof the innovative crop protection products Emesto, Velum and Serenade.might be the cure. Ingo Hein, principal investigator in plant pathogen co-evolution,The four-year experience with Bayers smallholder project in Kenya underpinned says by using tools his team has developed, they could put potato breeders atthe success of the Root2Success concept: farmer yields were increased by a factor ease, helping farmers produce fit fritters instead of the frail. of two to four. Farmer income increased by factors ranging from three to 10. Diana By using diagnostic resistance gene enrichment sequencing (dRenSeq) andGitonga, manager smallholder farming Bayer East Africa is excited about small-PenSeq tools that we have developed here in Scotland in collaboration with peersholder farmers and governmental organizations strong support: It is extremely at the Sainsbury Laboratory in Norwich, we are able for the first time ever to trackrewarding to receive so many positive responses from farmers. Farmers are happy the historical and geographical patterns of resilient genes in American and Britishand thankful for Bayers outreach, knowledge transfer and potato training to potatoes, said Hein. improve their incomes.RAMPART is registered for both post-harvest & foliar uses.The right recipe thatdelivers excellent uptake.66 SPUDSMART.COM FALL 2019WWW.UAP.CA'