- Title: PERU: Experts say potatoes grow better while suspended in the air without soil
- Date: 6th November 2009
- Summary: GREENHOUSE WHERE THEY PRODUCE VARIETIES OF SWEET POTATOES FORM THE REGION AND FROM AROUND THE WORLD CLOSE-UP OF PERUVIAN SWEET POTATO "JONATHAN' WHICH IS A RICH ORANGE COLOR AND RICH IN VITAMIN A TECHNICIANS WORKING WITH SWEET POTATO VARIETIES IN THE GREENHOUSE RESEARCHER FROM THE UGANDAN NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF AGRICULTURE, ROBERT MWANGA, (SOUNDBITE) (English) RESEARCHER FROM THE UGANDAN NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF AGRICULTURE, ROBERT MWANGA, SAYING: "The National Agricultural Association realized that vitamin A deficiency is severe in Uganda and in other parts of the continent and has worked with the International Potato Center to introduce varieties from Peru that are high in beta-carotene, which is vitamin A. And these varieties, after breeding have got varieties that are now preferred by consumers and farmers." MWANGA (SOUNDBITE) (English) RESEARCHER FROM THE UGANDAN NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF AGRICULTURE, ROBERT MWANGA, SAYING: "Considering the 30 million people, we hope that this will benefit the communities, but we have really positive indications. This has to be documented based on the results of liver and blood samples and other studies that are going on that will be concluded soon." SWEET POTATO VARIETIES STORED IN BOXES CLOSE-UP OF SWEET POTATO MADE BY CROSSING THE PERUVIAN "JONATHAN" WITH AN AFRICAN SWEET POTATO TECHNICIANS IN THE GREENHOUSE
- Embargoed: 21st November 2009 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Peru
- Country: Peru
- Topics: Industry
- Reuters ID: LVA8RKQLZJ17CKNJSD692SF58UQQ
- Story Text: Meeting in Peru to discuss ways to better produce crops researches discuss aeroponics and new varieties of sweet potatoes designed to deliver vitamin A to sub-Sahara Africa.
Climate change is threatening the world's food supply and specialists from more than 40 countries gathered in Peru this week to discuss new techniques they are using to produce more and better food despite changing weather conditions.
Lima is hosting the 15th Triennial International Symposium of the International Society for Tropical Root Crops, or ISTRC, and experts discussed on Wednesday (November 04) the use of aeroponics, or the growing of suspended plants without soil and the development of a new sweet potato designed to introduce more vitamin A to the African diet which is lacking the essential nutrient.
Earlier this week food security experts warned that after falling for decades, the number of hungry people in the world is rising again, and melting glaciers and falling water tables in some of the world's biggest grain-producing nations threaten to dramatically worsen the problem.
Many believe the potato, which can be grown at almost any elevation or climate: from the barren, frigid slopes of the Andes Mountains to the tropical flatlands of Asia may be the answer.
Coupling the potato with innovational techniques like aeroponics can allow growers to produce more abundant harvests according to Carlos Chuquillanqui of the International Potato Center in Peru.
"Potato production using aeroponics, means that these plants in this system produce 60 tubers per plant compared to the conventional system which produces only 12 to 15 tubers. In addition to more tubers, they are free of disease and can produce a continuous harvest for six to eight months," said Chuquillanqui.
Aeroponics involves growing plants suspended in a chamber without soil.
The plants roots are almost continuously sprayed or irrigated with a solution rich in nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus.
This technique allows potato plants to produce more tubers per plant, larger potatoes that are more uniform in size and shape and that are also far less likely to be affected by disease or blight, like the one that sparked the Irish potato famine of the 1840s and 1850s.
"The aeroponic system begins with the seedlings which come from the laboratory and are transplanted to a tray of clean sand to induce the roots for two weeks. At the end of this time they have to be transferred to the growth chambers. In these chambers the plants are [continuously] irrigated with a nutrient rich solution at three minutes on and five minutes off, for six months. After three months the tubers begin to grow and for the next three months they can be harvested continuously every 15 days," added Chuquillanqui.
Potatoes are a great source of complex carbohydrates, which release their energy slowly, and have only five percent of the fat content of wheat.
They also have one-fourth of the calories of bread and, when boiled, have more protein than corn and nearly twice the calcium, according to the Potato Center. They contain vitamin C, iron, potassium and zinc.
What the African diet is lacking though is vitamin A, something this Peruvian variety of sweet potato, called the Jonathan is rich in.
Two-years ago the Ugandan National Institute of Agriculture teamed up with the International Potato Center to develop a new variety of potato to ward of hunger and provide more vitamin A to the sub-Saharan Africa.
The idea was to produce a new variety rich in beta-carotene-- which is essential for the production of vitamin A -- like the Peruvian Jonathan that would also be adaptable to the African climate and the tastes of the local consumers.
Robert Mwanga of the Ugandan National Institute of Agriculture says what they were able to produce has so far been a success.
"The National Agricultural Association realized that vitamin A deficiency is severe in Uganda and in other parts of the continent and has worked with the International Potato Center to introduce varieties from Peru that are high in beta-carotene, which is vitamin A. And these varieties, after breeding have got varieties that are now preferred by consumers and farmers," said Mwanga.
"Considering the 30 million people, we hope that this will benefit the communities, but we have really positive indications. This has to be documented based on the results of liver and blood samples and other studies that are going on that will be concluded soon," added Mwanga.
With the world's population expected to grow from 6.7 billion today to 9 billion by 2050 aeroponics and new varieties of sweet potatoes may be part of the answer to feeding the world. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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