Selecting for Success: The Battle with Potato Virus Y
Developing a potato cultivar that is resistant to both Potato Virus Y (PVY) and potato cyst nematodes.
Developing a potato cultivar that is resistant to both Potato Virus Y (PVY) and potato cyst nematodes.
Research collecting potato pollen for developing varieties resistant to nematodes.
Thousands of different clones are grown and evaluated each year through potato breeding programs.
One of the environments the Cornell potato breeding program uses to test elite clones are muck fields in the northern part of New York.
Potato breeding programs use smaller tubers to grow potatoes in the field the following year.
Similar to farmers picking out rocks from their fields over decades and still finding more, many potato fields have an endless supply of rocks.
A potato breeder never truly knows what they’ll get from a cross until the first harvest in the field.