Jaap Delleman

‘G-day’, is how Peter van der Zaag, Chairman of the World Potato Congress (WPC), welcomed those present with the traditional Australian greeting at the spacious Congress Centre in Adelaide. In his view, the theme ‘Old world, meets new’, is highly appropriate for Australia. After all, it’s a country where the old and new world merge. But also as far as the potato sector is concerned, he believes that the meeting between the northern countries, Australia (the old world) included, and the southern countries (the new world) are very important. He is of the opinion that both should work better together to improve global food security through potato production and research. As former chairman of the International Potato Center (CIP), which attaches great importance to the development of developing countries, he emphasised that the North must help the South to improve cultivation. To develop collaboration between private and public potato partners, the WPC initiated the Declaration of Dublin (DD) at their last congress in Ireland in 2022. The purpose of this statement is to promote mutual interaction, knowledge sharing and collaboration. This is important, because he noted that the potato acreage in developing countries has increased considerably in recent years, but yields are lagging behind. ‘Together, we must ensure that the yield potential in developing countries improves’, he said enthusiastically. Meanwhile, on its website, WPC has already posted a number of success stories stemming from the Declaration of Dublin.

Introducing new techniques

To help potato cultivation in developing countries move forward, Van der Zaag called for the introduction of new techniques such as hybrid diploid and tetraploid varieties, and starting cultivation from seed instead of seed potatoes. But he also believes that local propagation of mini tubers and aeroponics techniques can help these countries improve their seed potato systems. It guarantees ware potato growers a better start to cultivation than using the often diseased-seed potatoes that these growers frequently start with now. The topic of hybrid breeding came up in various knowledge sessions. In one such meeting, a group of Chinese researchers even launched a new worldwide hybrid initiative. However, during that meeting, it became clear that there was, as yet, a strong focus on the enormous potato country itself and not as such on the whole world. Solynta and HZPC made their appearance at this meeting in order to share results from other countries also. They shared examples of successes with hybrid varieties, mainly in African countries and in India, with hybrid cultivation. Especially in these areas, where healthy seed potatoes are often not available, this technique can help growers take big steps forward, the companies concluded.

New seed potato strategies needed

Monica Parker, a passionate scientist, has a major life’s goal to provide science to increase the impact of the potato on both individual households and national economies, especially in developing countries. She argued that new seed potato strategies are desperately needed to provide people in developing countries with adequate food. In her presentation, she showed examples of new techniques such as hybrid potato varieties, but also mini tuber cultivation, which she believes are good methods for starting locally with clean planting stock. ‘The most significant thing is that potato growers will use seed potatoes with fewer propagation years as the start of their cultivation’, she pointed out, emphasising that it’s important for many countries to set up local systems in order to improve returns in cultivation. ‘To achieve this, it’s important to train people in those countries in order to set up a reliable seed potato system’, is her experience. It’s striking that Monica Parker mainly focused on free varieties in her presentation and didn’t so much highlight the possible advantages of licensed varieties. Derek Roulston, partly seed potato grower in Ireland and partly involved in various seed potato projects in Kenya, also emphasised that certified seed potatoes are the basis of successful potato cultivation in developing countries. Using practical examples, he showed that, together with local growers and the IPM Potato Group seed potato trading house from Ireland, as well as the International Fertilizer Development Center (IFDC), he has achieved good results with new varieties and cultivation methods in Kenya.

Potato production continues to increase worldwide

Looking to the future, keynote speaker Guy Hareau, chief scientist at the CIP international potato center in Peru, noted that global production is also expected to continue to rise over the next 25 years. Especially developing countries are accounting for this increase, he quotes from the research results. China and India, in particular, appear to be responsible for this growth. To emphasise the importance of the potato globally, he told us that 1.3 billion people eat the potato as a staple crop. This is an indication of the importance of the potato as a staple food worldwide. The area of growth is mainly taking place in developing countries, while the developed countries showed an average decline between the years 2011 and 2021. Especially in Asia, the importance of the potato is increasing rapidly. Looking at the production per hectare, Hareau pointed out that New Zealand is achieving the highest yields worldwide with an average yield of over 50 tons per hectare, closely followed by the United States. The Netherlands is in third place with over 40 tons, followed by Germany, Belgium, Australia, France and Canada. Worldwide, however, the average yield remains at around 22 tons per hectare. Plenty of challenges for countries to increase yields further, thereby providing greater food security and improving the economic results of growers worldwide. Due to the low yields per hectare in many developing countries, economic growth continues to lag behind there. Looking to the future, the specialist emphasises that this must change. For this, a look ahead to 2050 followed, which showed that the annual potato production is expected to rise to 482 million tons, compared to over 360 million today. If this is to continue, it is important to gain a better insight into production systems, such as a good seed potato cut-off system in developing countries and the potential for the potato to contribute to food security, sustainable intensification and diversification, income generation and added value. Hareau, however, is concerned about the much better returns in developed countries. ‘These will only increase the yield gap with the growers in developing countries. It’s important to continue to work on this, as the expected share of potato production in developing countries, viewed from the total worldwide potato production perspective, will continue to grow. The heterogeneity in production systems may worsen in the future. That’s why the scientist called for the development of new markets and innovative applications with potatoes on both the consumption and production sides. This can also improve the returns for the local growers. Furthermore, new innovations should ensure that a solution is found to address environmental and social problems arising from the negative external effects of the global green revolution. In addition, agriculture’s focus on growth and rural transformation will shift to addressing issues such as poverty, inequality and jobs, food security, nutrition and the environment. This will make the cultivation of potatoes even more challenging, according to Hareau.

Global market is significantly out of balance

A look at the global potato market based on official statistics by Cedric Porter from World Potato Markets showed that the global market is significantly out of balance. He drew attention to the fact that although 59.1 percent of the world’s population lives in Asia and 54.2 percent of potato production is realised in Asia, only 6.0 percent of the world’s trade value is realised there. ‘This in stark contrast to Europe, which comprises only 9.3 percent of the world’s population and grows 26.2 percent of the world’s potatoes. However, the continent is responsible for almost 70 percent of the world’s potato trade. Looking to the future, he saw the biggest difference in Africa, where 18.0 percent of the world population lives, but with only 7.2 percent of potato production and only 3.1 percent of potato trade is found. North America is also out of balance. This continent is home to 4.7 percent of the world’s population and accounts for 17.1 percent of the world’s potato trade, but only 6.4 percent of potato production is cultivated there. Host region Oceania is the only region in balance, with 0.6 percent of the population and 0.5 percent of the potato trade. Porter then showed predictions from the United Nations that expect the African population to have increased by 200 percent by the year 2100. This means that there’s still plenty of work to do to provide all these new people with potatoes.

Attractive story of the potato

In addition to developments in emerging markets where the potato is already fully embraced, the World Potato Congress also paid attention to developments in markets where the potato became established quite some time ago. Here, it is often a challenge to involve consumers in the attractive story of the potato. The common thread in the various presentations is that sharing the right information is an important prerequisite. As an experienced dietician, consultant and TV presenter, Jemma O’Hanlon’s mission is to generate health and happiness through nutrition. Her career spans nearly two decades in the food production, food service, food production and public health sectors and, as a trusted voice of authority, O’Hanlon is often asked by the media for her views on current nutrition issues. In doing so, she focuses on facts, as she told her audience during her presentation. ‘The Australian Heart Foundation also indicates that diet has a major influence on the people’s health. This organisation states that the fibre, potassium and other micronutrients in vegetables and fruit have been shown to reduce the risk of high blood pressure and cholesterol, and these mechanisms are likely to contribute to this protective effect on cardiovascular diseases. The potato fits in with all these advantages, it’s a real super hero’, she said enthusiastically. She also emphasised that the potato is a healthy vegetable that fits into the healthiest diet in the world.

Proper information

Blair Richardson, the CEO of Potatoes USA, added in a flashy presentation ‘Marketing for the next Generation’ that if you don’t inform young people properly, you will quickly lose them. ‘This Gen-Z generation (born between 1997 and 2012, ed.) grew up digitally in a natural way.’ That’s why news spreads quickly, because they’re active on various social platforms. In addition, they’re looking for a life where their work and private lives are in balance. Once they believe in something and have a passion for it, they also express that through the YouTube and TikTok channels that are most important to them’, he explained their lifestyle. In addition, they are world travellers who are open to a multitude of flavours and dishes from all kinds of countries. ‘They discover these dishes in restaurants, where they spend 40 percent of their income, but they also like to look them up on social media to prepare themselves. Furthermore, the Gen-Z generation in America also like to snack, and preferably several times a day. Top brands such as Lay’s, Doritos and Cheetos are popular and benefit from this’, he told us about an important trend, to which he added that this generation has embraced the potato in their hearts. ‘Features they mention about the potato are the multitude of preparation methods, healthy, tasty and of course a source of nutrition’, Richardson listed a number of things. To convince people of this generation to eat potatoes even more often, Potatoes USA is focusing on the characteristic that the potato gives energy. ‘Energy to get through the day, but also the energy to play sports properly. In order to motivate them to share their potato experiences, we have created Team Potato, an online initiative that focuses on various online platforms such as Strava and Facebook’, the CEO said.

Meeting

Besides gaining knowledge, the World Potato Congress offered a unique opportunity to meet contacts from all over the world. There was plenty of space for this during the congress. At the trade show, where around forty companies from all over the world presented themselves, deliciously prepared potato lunches were served. A highlight was the gala dinner, where the organisers served the visitors a multitude of potato dishes. This made it very easy for visitors to get to know other potato professionals from different parts of the world. All in all, the World Potato Congress is an event that is important to attend if you are professionally active in the potato chain. In addition, it also offers the opportunity to get acquainted with the organising country. An extensive report on local potato cultivation and trade in Australia will follow in the next issue of Potato World magazine. The next World Potato Congress will take place in the Polish port of Gdansk on June 22-25, 2026 and will be organised by the Polish Potato Federation.