Potato Variety Days 2024 Spotlights on varieties with fewer growing days

Breeding new potato varieties with fewer growing days is increasingly in the spotlight due to the many advantages for both cultivation and marketing. However, a short growing season isn’t always synony­mous with an early variety; it’s also about the capacity of a variety to bulk up early. In addition, every market has its own definition of exactly what an early variety is, which further increases the challenge. This complexity makes breeding varieties with fewer growing days not only a technical triumph of potato breeding, but also an art that requires a multi-faceted approach when introducing them to the market, as was evident during the Potato Variety Days tour of the various breeding companies.