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The collaboration between the International Potato Center (CIP for its acronym in Spanish) and the European Association for Potato Research (EAPR) spans over decades, as CIP directors and scientists have regularly participated in EAPR conferences. In 2014, this collaboration took a significant step forward as CIP became actively involved in the 19th EAPR triennial conference that took place in Brussels in July. Two senior CIP scientists were invited to deliver keynote lectures, which highlighted the importance of potatoes for food security and sustainability in the world, including in developing countries, and in a context of climate change.
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André Devaux, Regional Director for Latin America, presented “From a poverty lens to a food security lens: potatoes to improve global food security and sustainability.”
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Philippe Monneveux, Executive Officer for Research, focused on “Drought and heat tolerance evaluation in potato (Solanum tuberosum L.).”
During the week-long conference, scientists from different CIP offices around the world—India, Kenya, and Peru—gave eight other presentations on varied topics of research, from nutrition to yield gap analysis to bacterial wilt management.
In an initiative supported by the EAPR conference organizers in order to engage more directly with the 400 participants, a parallel session on CIP’s research program was organized at the end of the conference. It drew more than 70 attendees, who divided into three discussion groups around topics of agronomy and physiology, seed systems, and genomics. During these exchanges, various opportunities for collaboration between CIP researchers and potato scientists and specialists from Europe and beyond were identified:
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In the areas of agronomy, physiology and value chains, discussions touched upon reduction of losses during storage and transport, crop management machinery such as the thin-ridge technique, and drought and heat tolerance research. The following mechanisms for developing collaboration between European institutions and CIP for potato research in developing countries were proposed:
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Develop a network of knowledge and a working group addressing the different research issues identified
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Develop a list of potato experts in the area of agronomy-physiology
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Implement a mechanism of expertise sharing
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Collaborate on research issues regarding which products can be easier used in different contexts (e.g., developed and developing countries, different agro-ecologies) rather than on development applications that are more specific and dependent on the environment
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Share germplasm and, as far as possible, include common germplasm in experiments
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Investigate the possibility of tapping EC funds through colleagues who have good knowledge and experience in accessing these funds
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Work with farmers’ groups and farmers’ unions to carry out solidarity action with farmers in developing countries
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For potato seed systems, the following ideas were developed:
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Collaboration through MSc and/or PhD students, following the example of the Universities of Louvain, Montpellier, and Wageningen.
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Have CIP serve as a “broker” between European research organizations and national partners and the private sector in developing countries to adapt to local conditions and put into use technologies and knowledge developed in Europe and elsewhere in the world. This could be organized by regions (Sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean).
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CIP could also contribute to the sharing and exchanging of information and knowledge about on-going projects and collaboration on potato research in developing countries; and contribute to better networking with information on “who is working where?”
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Take advantage of funding opportunities such as the EU Horizon 2020 to present proposals together, focusing also on developing countries
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Tap the potential of mobile phone technologies: SMS for disease warnings, digital seed catalogue
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EU partners could have access to laboratory space for students/projects that may not be accessible in Sub-Saharan Africa
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Improve disease/pest warning systems
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In the areas of genomics, genetic resources and breeding, participants agreed that there was room for collaboration in different European projects, including those on heat tolerance and photoperiod (LD) adaptation. They discussed the level of germplasm use in breeding programs extensively, and explored possible collaborations for unlocking the potential of gene banks for food security—for instance, by searching for new sources of alleles from gene bank collections for use in breeding.
The CIP Deputy Director General for Development, Oscar Ortiz, took the opportunity of the dedicated session to present the organization’s new Strategy and Corporate Planning that will guide CIP’s research for the next 10 years and which includes strategic objectives such as “Agile Potato for Asia” and “Seed Potato for Africa.”
The collaboration between CIP and EAPR promises to enhance the impact of both organizations: while CIP’s development objectives can only be reached through engagement with the right partners all over the world - many of which are found within the EAPR - the EAPR will benefit from an increased international dimension that will broaden the scope of its activities and help it to tap the full potential of the tuber crop.
Website: www.cipotato.org
Contact: Dr. André Devaux, email: a.devaux@cgiar.org
