Did you know that potatoes are not considered vegetables? They are edible tubers. On average, a person eats 73 pounds of potatoes, internationally; Americans eat almost twice that amount at 130 pounds per year!

However, among the four top-most produced crops, potatoes are the easiest targets for various fungi, viruses, and other infectious agents. The two most common fungal diseases found among potato crops are black dot (colletotrichum coccodes) and powdery scab (spongospora subterranea). Currently, there is no cure for powdery scab, and black dot can be cured by fungicides but requires multiple applications, making the treatment much too expensive to be economically feasible. These diseases destroy other crops in the same soil, and can affect 25% of the surrounding crops.

The Agricultural Research Services, along with professors from Washington State University, have been cultivating five varieties of potato crops since 2004 to determine a breed that will be most resistant to these fungi.  Solanum hougasii, a breed from Mexico was found to have the most genetic resistance to both fungi. The crops that the researchers have cultivated will not be used for consumption purposes, but rather to provide seeds from breeding facilities globally.

Discussion Question: Why is the potato crop an easier target for diseases than other crops?

News Article: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/03/100303113954.htm
Article Abstract: http://apsjournals.apsnet.org/doi/abs/10.1094/PDIS-93-11-1116