My potatoes are sick - Astronomy 2009

Among the popular ideas in the midst of pears, the potato is not left behind. I’ve heard everything about it!

So, the day I learned about the existence of a research station on the flight of a small bird from where I grew up, I decided to meet its trainer, Mr. Dubreuil; the one who, with his team, selects the potatoes we eat and will eat tomorrow…

And not just us, France being the second largest producer of seeds behind the Netherlands, and the largest exporter of potatoes in the world.

Potatoes for nanny

In his honor, Hervé Dubreuil is the creator of twenty varieties includingManon,Florette,Laurette, Duchesse,Your Highness, Coquine, Cheyenne,… In France, 4 breeders are working on creating the variety, including GROCEP located 30 km north of Limoges. The breeders create varieties they have owned for 30 years. After this period, they fall into the public domain like Charlotte, Binje, Ratte…

From this meeting, I was taken aback and my beliefs even more so… I repeated my first question three times so that his answer did not satisfy me!

How many varieties of potatoes are there in France?
“Right now, about 200,000… Mr. Dubreuil replies

That’s a lot! ! ! ! ! ! And here, how many do you have?
— 45,000

Wow! Is he making fun of me?
And how many varieties are there in commerce?
— About 300, all manufacturers combined

How many varieties are available for gardeners?
–Less than 30…

I had every reason to believe him because, with his team, they are the creators of most new varieties in the vegetable stalls.

Although this research center is not focused on organic potato cultivation, the selection work is done with great rigor. And it feels like old-fashioned work, meaning a selection that takes into account both sensitivity to pests and first and foremost mold, as well as overall appearance, productivity, and taste. In short, a potato that tastes like a potato and is conditioned. Not like the Beef Heart tomato or all those water-filled, floury, and tasteless tomatoes, all called Beef Heart…

The club has struck!

How is a potato plant regenerated?

My question seemed well-founded. Recently, a farmer told me that the old ones regenerated their seedlings by growing them at altitude. And how many of us have bought new plants because our plants have degenerated… With a small benevolent smile, my interlocutor replied to me:

— It is impossible to regenerate a potato plan because it does not degenerate.

Ah, Bugre is my night… do you think the “new” plants have the same qualities as the old ones?
– Exactly. When purchased, the only difference is that they are guaranteed from a health perspective.

That’s what it means!
They are free of viruses. Different species of aphids can colonize the stems and leaves of potatoes and inoculate the plants when they are virus carriers. And the plants from this plant will therefore be carriers of the virus.

How can I do that?
— Just remove all the plants that suffer from a viral disease and never replant a tuber from a sick plant.

If the plants are healthy, could we in absolute terms replant an entire crop?
– Absolutely.

And is the size of the plants important?
– No one. The only thing that matters… is the eyes.
One eye = one stem. And one stem = 2 to 4 potatoes (2)

How are varieties preserved?
— A variety can only be preserved if it is alive!

Because genetic criteria are not transmitted by seed (3). The only way to store it is to replant it in spring or keep it alive in a sweet substrate in the lab (4). Otherwise, it dies…

Everyone will form their own opinion on the very old varieties of potatoes coming out of the drawers… There are days when you sleep less stupid: that day was my case! Thanks to Hervé Dubreuil and Philippe LATY, from the Groupement du Centre des Producteurs de Pommes de terre (GROCEP).

I.E

When your plants have long white shoots, these are stems that have exhausted themselves in search of light… To be reserved for those who love lean crops.

(1) Breeders create varieties, but in the end, it is the distributors who decide whether a variety will have a good chance or not. If after 2 to 3 years, it is cut from the market, the variety is abolished. And they are not necessarily the best that require… Breeders offer, distributors have.
And with some regret, Mr. Dubreuil escapes me for having selected excellent varieties both in taste and resistant to pests such as the famous late blight, but which never came to be.

(2) If the average weight of the tuber is multiplied by the number of stems and plants, we get an estimate of the yield under ‘normal’ climatic conditions.

(3) Potato fruits each contain about a hundred seeds, and each is a new variety…

(4) see photos

There is no alternative to pesticides