Breeders go back to the future to combat the world’s deadliest potato disease

Media: Potato News Today

Late potato blight is the most destructive potato disease in the world costing developing countries USD 10 billion every year. This CIP@50 story digs into a new rapid-fire approach to potato breeding that makes farmer-favorite varieties resistant to late blight, which could increase profits by at least 40% wherever potato is cropped. The secret? The latest biotech methods mixed with the oldest breeding trick in the book – harvesting the wild genes of the potato’s distant ancestors.

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