Potatoes

Production, Marketing, And Programs For Developing Countries

Douglas Horton

• Publisher: CRC Press
• Year: 2019
• Print ISBN: 9780367299460
• eBook ISBN: 9781000307849
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Biological Sciences
• Subtopic: Biology
• Index: Biological Sciences

Although the potato is usually thought of as a temperate-zone crop, potato growing in the tropics and subtropics is spreading rapidly. In terms of the dollar value of the crop, this edible root now ranks fourth in the developing world after rice, wheat, and maize. Nevertheless, policymakers often underrate the importance of the potato as a source of employment, income, and food or they underestimate the potential benefits from expanding potato production and use. The payoff from applied research on potato cultivation in the tropics and subtropics is high due to the large body of scientific information from developed countries. This book summarizes the principles of potato production, distribution, and use. The essential facts about the potato as a crop, a commodity, and a food are discussed as well as the issues that scientists and policymakers should consider in setting priorities for implementing and assessing the impact of potato research and extension programs. A major premise of the book is that programs aiming to increase food supplies and reduce poverty through crop improvement need to consider not only production technology but also marketing strategies and consumption patterns. Adequate planning for agricultural research and development requires an understanding of how crops are grown, marketed, and used and of what potential benefits the new technologies can yield. Hence, effective crop improvement programs need both technical and socioeconomic expertise. The administrators and others responsible for implementing these programs must concern themselves with the policies that impinge on the adoption and consequences of new production methods so that their countries may reap the full benefits of an increased and stable food supply.

1
World patterns and trends in potato production and use

Among the world’s food crops, the potato ranks in the top five in tonnage, and as a source of food energy it provides about one-sixth as many calories as rice, wheat, and maize (Table 1).

The potato (Solanum tuberosum) has its origin in the high Andes of South America, but for the last two centuries most potatoes have been grown in Europe. For this reason, many people think of it as a European crop—the “Irish” potato—and assume that world trends in potato production and use parallel European trends. This is not the case.

Since World War II, world potato production has grown by less than half a percent per year. However, this lackluster global trend masks strongly divergent regional and national changes. In Western Europe, average potato production has dropped by 1.5 percent a year, while in Eastern Europe it has been flat. Elsewhere, production has increased: in North America and Oceania by 1 to 2 percent per year; in Latin America by nearly 3 percent per year; and in Africa and Asia by 4 percent per year. In the developing countries, total potato production has more than doubled since 1965 (Fig. 1).

Origin and spread of the potato crop

South American origin

The potato was first cultivated in the Andes in the vicinity of Lake Titicaca near the present border of Peru and Bolivia.

Table 1 World Production of Major Food Crops, 1984

			Edible portion
Crops	Production (million tons)	Dry matter (million tons)	Energy (trillion kcal)	Protein (million tons)
Cereals
Wheat	522	456	1,320	52.7
Rice, paddy	470	414	1,143	21.1
Barley	172	153	419	9.9
Maize	449	387	1,376	35.2
Rye	31	28	89	3.2
Oats	43	40	76	2.8
Millet	31	27	95	2.9
Sorghum	72	64	226	7.5
Roots and Tubers
Potatoes	312	63	192	5.3
Sweet potatoes	117	34	108	1.6
Cassava	129	52	110	0.5
Yams	25	7	22	0.5
Cocoyams	6	2	5	0.1
Pulses
Beans, dry	15	14	53	3.4
Broad-beans, dry	4	4	14	1.0
Peas, dry	11	9	36	2.6
Chickpeas	7	6	23	1.3
Lentils	2	1	5	0.4
Oilseeds
Soybeans	90	81	362	30.7
Groundnuts in shell	21	19	85	3.9
Vegetables
Cabbages	38	3	7	0.4
Tomatoes	59	4	11	0.6
Onions, dry	23	3	8	0.3
Carrots	12	1	4	0.1
Bananas & plantains	61	21	53	0.5

Source: FAO, Production yearbook 1984 (Rome, 1985); and USDA, Composition of foods (Washington, D.C., 1975).

Figure 1. Trends (3-year moving averages) in potato production and total food production in developing countries. Source: FAO, Production yearbook 1976; 1984 (Rome, 1977; 1985). Unpublished data provided by FAO Basic Data Unit.

Once domesticated, the potato crop spread throughout the Andes, and by the time of the Spanish conquest in the early sixteenth century, farmers were cultivating hundreds of varieties throughout the highland areas of what are now B...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Series Page
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• List of Tables and Figures
• Foreword
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• 1 World patterns and trends in potato production and use
• 2 The potato crop and its physical environment
• 3 The socioeconomic environment: Levels of development and public policies
• 4 Supply, demand, and marketing
• 5 Potato nutrition and consumption
• 6 Potato production systems
• 7 Research priorities and potato programs
• 8 Impact of potato programs
• 9 Summing up
• References
• Index
• About the Book and Author