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Danespo: Focus on changing environment and customer demands

October 31, 2023

‘Potatoes are good for a healthy and sustainable world, as less land is needed for the production of one kilogram of potatoes compared to most other staple foods. With focus on the development of potato varieties suitable for a changing environment and changing customer demands’, Danespo is breeding new varieties in Denmark.

‘The main focus of our breeding program is to meet the challenges of environmental changes as well as the future demand for low input agriculture without compromising yield and quality. This focus has been a high priority for several years, also involving water efficiency, heat and drought tolerance, nitrogen efficiency as well as disease resistances in order to select for robust varieties. This is carried out using new selection techniques such as advanced root analysis, thermal imaging as well as genomic selection and traditional field trial’, explains Danespo.

By breeding varieties for cultivation all over the world, Danespo aims at contributing to feed the earth’s ever-growing population. ‘This is not an easy matter, as the climate is changing rapidly, and we experience more weather extremes. Difficult situations where there is too much precipitation or too little water occur more and more often’, the company states. ‘As an example, we use the state of the art RadiMax root research facility at the University of Copenhagen in our research on improved drought resistance. The close cooperation with universities ensures that the newest research techniques are combined with our in-house breeding and deep market knowledge. Additional advantages of this cooperation are the new ideas and perspectives we gain for our breeding work. We have a close and structured cooperation with the Danish universities on development of breeding tools and a close cooperation with the R&D departments at our shareholders: DLF and Florimond Desprez”, the Danish company shares.


Potato Variety Days 2023 e-book

In November, companies participating in the Potato Variety Days put the spotlight on their potato varieties of the future. Learn all the ins and outs of this year’s event in our special e-book, including need-to-know information and an up-to-date list of participating companies to help you plan your visit. Download your own e-book with the full programme here.




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