Sustainable Potato Production - Guidelines for - FAO.org

Fighting potato late blightIn developing countries, farmersgenerally lack knowledge of lateblight (LB) control measures, andhave limited or no access toresistant varieties andagricultural inputs needed tocontrol potato LB effectively. CIPis working on different fronts todevelop alternatives to controlLB. In recent decades, itsbreeding programme hasdeveloped LB-resistant varietiesadapted to smallholder farmingconditions in tropicalenvironments. Some of thesevarieties are already beingcultivated in several countries inLatin America (Bolivia, Colombia,Ecuador, Peru), in Africa (Ethiopia,Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania) andin Asia (China, India). CIP has alsodeveloped technical principles foroptimizing fungicide use, and fordesigning and adaptingparticipatory research andtraining methods to deal with thecomplexities of LB management.The experience in LBmanagement accumulated so farhas shown that returns oninvestment in controlling thedisease are high, with marginalrates of return ranging from 260percent to 1360 percent. Theseare especially significant forresource-poor farmers for whompotato cultivation represents animportant coping strategy.Support is needed to helpoptimize this impact by scalingup and out the technologies andmethodologies developed by CIP.54SUSTAINABLEPOTATOPRODUCTIONPesticides and the environmentImproper use of pesticides inpotato cultivation is a majorenvironmental concern. Themost widespread and intensiveuse of pesticides in developingcountries is for control of lateblight (LB) potato disease.Farmers in some countries spraytheir potato fields more than 10times during a single growingseason of 4 to 6 months tocombat this disease. Biocides area health risk to farm families andfarm workers engaged in potatoproduction. With the emergenceof new and more virulent strainsof LB, even more frequent (andincreasingly ineffective)applications of pesticides arebeing made, raising the risk tohuman health and theenvironment. The spread ofpesticides or fertilizer residuesinto water supplies throughirrigation systems or field runoffcontribute to water pollutionthat damages plants, insects andlivestock, and poses a seriousthreat to drinking water and towater used for post-harvestactivities. Concern overenvironmental and healthimpacts, combined with thebetter appreciation of thedamage different diseases andinsects cause to the potato, haveled to the development anddiffusion of alternativetechnologies including diseaseresistantvarieties and integratedmanagement (IDM/IPM)techniques.