Abstract
AbstractIn organic potato production, the need for varieties with durable late blight resistance developed through classical breeding programmes is urgent. Besides late blight resistance, other variety characteristics needed in organic potato production are early canopy closure for weed suppression and good tuber dormancy to eliminate the need for (chemical) sprouting inhibition during storage, amongst others. This paper is a unique example of collaboration between researchers, farmers and professional breeders of both large, medium and small breeding companies. The aim of the resulting breeding project, Bioimpuls, was to provide a substantial impulse to both the organic and conventional potato breeding sector by enlarging the access to various sources of late blight resistance. The Bioimpuls activities include providing true seed populations for variety selection with five available sources ofR-genes againstPhytophthora infestans, early and advanced introgression breeding with six newR-genes, and education and communication. The results achieved over the 11-year period (2009–2019) are analysed. Many true seed populations containing multiple resistance genes are produced and selected, and a constant flow of breeding clones is entering the evaluation and positioning trials of companies. However, it will still take a considerable amount of time before varieties with stacked resistance genes will replace the new resistant single gene varieties entering the market in the next few years. Five out of six new sources ofR-genes need more years of backcrossing before they are ready for commercial use. Bioimpuls successfully introduced a training course for farmer breeders, and published a manual for potato breeding.
Highlights
The Dutch Organic Potato ProductionThe agricultural area under organic management in the Netherlands is gradually increasing (3.1% of the total in 2017, moving up to 3.8% in 2019), but is still well below the average organic area in the EU-28, i.e. 7.7% in 2019 (Bionext 2019; Eurostat 2019)
Late blight caused by the oomycete Phytophthora infestans is the major problem for organic potato production throughout Europe (Tamm et al 2004)
For the second 5-year period (2015–2019), two companies withdrew: KWS changed its focus from clonal to true potato seed (TPS) breeding and handed over its involvement in Bioimpuls to HZPC, while Agrico, being the largest potato breeding company in the Netherlands, wanted to continue independently with their own organic breeding programme. This change in partners made it possible for other companies to join, resulting in six potato breeding companies: Den Hartigh, Fobek, HZPC, Meijer Potato, Plantera, and TPC (Fig. 1). In this set-up, the central Bioimpuls breeding programme is conducted by the research institutes and aimed to yearly provide true potato seed populations from crosses involving at least one major late blight resistance gene/source for early generation selection by either the central breeding programme, farmer breeders or breeding companies involved in the project (Fig. 1)
Summary
The agricultural area under organic management in the Netherlands is gradually increasing (3.1% of the total in 2017, moving up to 3.8% in 2019), but is still well below the average organic area in the EU-28, i.e. 7.7% in 2019 (Bionext 2019; Eurostat 2019). In order to control late blight outbreaks, the Dutch government has required a set of hygiene measures such as destroying the potato haulm at 7% leaf infestation for both organic and non-organic potato production (HPA 2003; NVWA 2017). The only measure for organic growers to prevent a complete harvest failure was advancing tuber bulking through chitting (pre-sprouting of seed tubers before planting) which enables an acceptable yield at the time the haulm has to be destroyed (Struik and Wiersema 1999; Finckh et al 2006; Hospers-Brands et al 2008) This measure is not widely applied by organic growers as it requires extra labour and facilities and does not provide an economic advantage in all years. In 2007, after several nation-wide dramatic late blight years with harvest failures in organic farming, the Dutch organic potato sector concluded that breeding with a diversity of late blight resistance genes would be the only way out
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