Belgium’s potato varieties are largely susceptible to downy mildew, according to Alice Soete, a researcher at CRA-W, Wallonia’s agricultural research center. To address this issue, Soete and her team undertook a selection program spanning nearly 10 years to develop a potato variety called Sarpira with red skin, tender flesh, and disease resistance. Researchers crossed potato varieties, planted seeds and tubers in test fields at gembloux and libramont facilities, and eliminated those that did not meet criteria for yield, disease resistance, storage, and cooking quality. Finally, potatoes were subjected to taste and texture tests by professionals. Soete states that a disease-resistant potato is of no use if no one wants to eat it.
“Most of the varieties currently cultivated in Belgium are sensitive, even very sensitive to the disease, and particularly to downy mildew”, adds Alice Soete, researcher at CRA-W, the agricultural research center of Wallonia. She and her team have therefore invested in a selection program, with the aim of improving the resistance to mildew of potato varieties. It took nearly ten years of selection to give birth to the Sarpira, a potato with tender flesh and red skin, and therefore resistant. At CRA-W’s Libramont and Gembloux facilities, researchers first crossed the potato varieties by pollinating the flowers, then sowing the seeds and then planting the tubers in test fields.
There’s no point in having a disease-resistant potato if no one wants to eat it.
Over time, they eliminated the varieties that did not meet their criteria. “It’s really trying to find the individual who will combine all the qualities sought: resistance to mildew, obviously, but also yield, resistance to other diseases, conservation and its qualities to be transformed or cooked.“, describes the breeder. The potatoes were thus grown in different types of soil, under various climatic conditions. They were also, at the end of the chain, tasted and tested by a panel of professionals. “There’s no point in having a disease-resistant potato if no one wants to eat it.“, she comments.
Thanks to the hard work and dedication of researchers at CRA-W, the Sarpira potato has been born, with its tender flesh, red skin, and resistance to downy mildew. The selection program that led to the creation of this new variety took nearly a decade of painstaking work, crossing varieties and testing tubers under a range of conditions to identify those that met stringent criteria for yield, disease resistance, and culinary quality. As the researchers note, there’s no point in having a disease-resistant potato if people won’t eat it, so the taste and texture of the Sarpira have been given just as much attention as its disease resistance. We can only hope that this new variety finds its way onto our dinner plates soon, as a testament to the power of scientific research and innovation in the food system.