Turquía : New drought resistant potato in development
Development of a new yellow-flesh potato variety called "Allah diyen sarisi" is underway by Prof. Dr. Güngör Yılmaz from the Gaziosmanpaşa University (GOI) Faculty of Agriculture. This potato may be grown without irrigation due to its exceptional
Yilmaz explains that the inside of the potato is yellow, rich in protein and is a variety that can be grown with rainfall, “Under normal conditions it is not possible to grow potatoes without irrigation, but this variety is more resistant to drought than others.
Because it is grown without irrigation, the need for fertiliser is also minimal." Yilmaz also considers that if an organic potato market can be established, in Turkey, “Allah diyen sarisi” would be the most superior candidate for organic potatoes. Yilmaz explains about the intensive studies being carried out on potato breeding, as a Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK) supported project, “Our different cross-breeding programs have different combinations. One of these was to improve the local variety the “Allah diyen sarisi”.
We are trying to transfer genes from three different parents for it. We are cross-breeding different parents to create better resistance to drought. Potato wart, potato cancer, is a very serious disease, a disease which is threatening potato farming in Turkey and around the world. Our program to make “Allah diyen sarisi” more resistant to this risk in the future continues.”Prof. Dr. Yilmaz, states that serious money is spent on sourcing seeds from abroad and an effort needs to be made in Turkey to reduce dependence on potatoes from abroad: there are many varieties in the country but the breeding improvement of almost all of them was developed by foreigners.
In Turkey in general, little work is done on breeding improvements, Yilmaz points out, “One of those working on it is our faculty. “Allah diyen sarisi” is one variety that we are working on registering, but with the support of TUBITAK we are hoping to add more varieties to the national list in the coming years. We submitted it to the Food, Agriculture and Livestock Ministry of Seed Registration and Certification Centre in 2014. Tests are carried out there for two years. We think it will be registered in the first quarter of 2016. It will be one of the first indigenous varieties developed by Gungor Yilmaz and the team."
Fuente: http://www.freshplaza.com/article/148861/
