N.B. scientist to study potato blight in Peru
Hopes research in birthplace of tuber will help Canadian farmers
Last Updated: Thursday, April 22, 2010 | 10:20 PM AT
CBC News
A New Brunswick potato scientist will travel to Peru this month in an effort to help Canadian tubers fight blight.
Dr. David De Koeyer, who works at the Potato Research Centre in Fredericton, has spent his professional life studying spuds.
He's heading to the vegetable's birthplace in South America to visit the International Potato Centre in Lima, the Peruvian capital.
De Koeyer will have 11 months to complete his research among the world's biggest collection of living potato tissue.
He hopes that among the 2,000 varieties he'll have access to, he'll find some wild potatoes with genes that are resistant to late blight.
The disease, which rots potatoes in the field, can cause catastrophic crop failure. It struck Ireland in the 1840s, leading to a potato famine that contributed to the deaths of up to one million people.
The knowledge De Koeyer acquires could eventually bring new, blight-resistant potato plants to Maritime fields.
"Peru and the Andes Region of South America is the home of the potato and related wild species," he said Wednesday.
"I hope to learn more about the genes that are involved in resistance for diseases and pests as well as genes that are involved in improved quality."
De Koeyer hopes to find a couple of strains that could be grown into plants at the Potato Research Centre.
From there, they could be tested in the centre's experimental field.
Genetic resistance to blight would save huge amounts of money now spent on chemicals used to prevent the disease.
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