Research Goals

RTB Potato Breeding project aims to improve potato breeding and deliver better varieties to farmers and consumers in Africa. We do this by:

• Fostering the East Africa Potato Network initiative[1]. This network, that was formally organized in 2023 is expected to enhance food security and income for smallholder farmers through improved collaboration and the development of new potato varieties. East Africa Potato Network partner countries were selected based on their potato production significance, agroecological diversity, research capabilities, and commitment to addressing common challenges in potato breeding and utilization. The total area under potato cultivation in the participating countries Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda and Nigeria is 1.1M hectares, Ethiopia being the highest with 335K ha. Together, they form a collaborative force to improve potato yields, enhance resilience, and promote food security in the East African region.
• Developing biofortified potatoes with elevated levels of iron and zinc and disease resistance adapted to the East Africa conditions. CIP biofortified potato breeding pipeline in Peru has been very successful in incrementing the iron and zinc concentration in potato (Amoros et al., 2020), and the first biofortified potato variety was registered in Peru in 2023. Biofortified potatoes were earlier shared with partners in Ethiopia and Rwanda for potential to result in the biofortified varieties suitable for the target agroecologies. However, recent studies suggest that to increase the chance of identifying a variety adapted to local conditions early-stage evaluations are likely needed (Seid et al. 2023; Rukundo et al. 2023).
• Sourcing new alleles for resistance to bacterial wilt caused by Ralstonia solanacearum through combining the resistance/tolerance with commercially acceptable genetic backgrounds. Pre-breeding clones derived from Solanum commersonii are being utilized as sources of resistance.
• Increase the precision of phenotyping and heritability using appropriate experimental designs, efficient protocols, and digital tools. Digital tools have become increasingly important in agricultural research. They can help researchers to collect, analyze, and share data more efficiently. Digital tools can also help to improve the accuracy and precision of research, and to reduce the time and cost required to conduct research. Data collection in the CIP breeding program is currently nearly 90% digital, however, a lot remains to be done to improve the digitalization of the same among the national partners. Existence of a central database is crucial to enable digital data collection since a large quantity of data is generated from each field trial and the only way to effectively manage this is through an efficient data base structure. Thus, the use of PotatoBase is essential for the effective design and implementation of breeding research program. Continuous training is organized by CIP data management team to ensure that CIP and partner staff can use the available tools efficiently.

[1] https://hdl.handle.net/10568/138071