Year in review, CIP’s top 12 most read stories in 2017
The year 2017 marked the opening of new International Potato Center (CIP) offices in Georgia and China, ushered in new scientific frontiers on Mars, and helped millions of people grow nutrition and income with resilient potato and sweetpotato crops. Dive into our top 12 most read stories for 2017 and learn a bit more about how CIP is working towards a more food secure world.
12. Seven ways seed systems help the world’s poor
Effective seed systems help grow smallholder resilience in the face of population growth and climate change.
11. Going to scale with orange-fleshed sweetpotato in Ghana
CIP Director General, Barbara Wells, paid a courtesy call former UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, and his wife Nane Annan, in Accra, Ghana. The duo serves as Orange-fleshed Sweetpotato (OFSP) ambassadors, championing the hidden hunger-fighting root since 2016.
10. Field test of biotech potato shows impressive control of Late Blight Disease
Late Blight disease causes economic losses of over $129 million in lost revenue for smallholder farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa. The 3R potato technology developed by CIP has shown high levels of resistance to late blight in a recent field trial of a biotech potato.
9. Potato incites sharing knowledge between Bhutan, Nepal, and Peru
Potato farmers from Nepal and Bhutan met with Peruvian farmers and exchanged knowledge about potato biodiversity in a learning trip funded by the European Union.
8. It may not have been love at first bite, but after almost a quarter century, Dr. Erna Abidin’s love affair with sweetpotato shows no signs of waning.
7. Orange Fleshed Sweetpotatoes are the next investment opportunity in Malawi
Intrepid Malawian agricultural entrepreneur is harvesting abundance thanks to a Feed the Future funded project.
6. Growing Sweetpotato in the desert: What this could mean for food security in Africa
Drought tolerant sweetpotato varieties take root in the desert. Abu Dhabi trials show promise for food security in semi-arid lands.
5. New potato variety Kufri Lima
The release of a new early maturing potato variety, Kufri Lima, promises to help farmers in India increase food security and income.
4. Cusco to host World Potato Congress and the Asociación Latinoamericano de la papa (ALAP) Congress in 2018
For the first time since its inception, the World Potato Congress will be held in the Andes, the birthplace of the potato.
3. Genebanks, the world’s insurance policy against hunger
Protecting crop diversity today ensures that our great-grandchildren have the same opportunities to use that diversity for crop improvement in the future.
2. Pest Risk Atlas for Africa freely available online
The new free online tool promises to further the understanding of pest distribution in Africa. Information will help create better awareness of current and future pest risks under climate change and promote the inclusion of pest risk adaptation plans at the country level.
1. Indicators show potatoes can grow on Mars
Experiments to understand how potatoes might grow on Mars conditions benefits research on Earth to help farmers suffering from climate change and weather shocks.