Community: From the ground up
Transcript
Gregory Porter:
These are example research plots here. We’ve got our easton’s on trials here still. We got Caribou Russet in some trials.
Quality is so important with potatoes. We need to have yields but we also have to have the quality attributes. Whether it’s appearance, good flavor, good processing quality. There are really a wide range of important traits that we’re looking for. We’re looking for resistance to those important diseases.
This is one of our greenhouses in Presque Isle, Maine where we’re growing our seedling plants. Our plants are grown in seedling pots, three inch pots.
These were grown from true seeds or from crosses done in 2014. From those seeds are germinated and then they are transplanted one plant per pot here. Each pot is a new variety. It takes about 12 years of developing a new potato variety.
Ginger Keifer:
I am thinking about a career in politics, and I think it’d be really beneficial to have some awareness of what’s going on in our state. This potato breeding program is really critical I think for the advancement and a really big part of Northern Maine.
I didn’t even know they had this program going on until I talked to Greg this spring. I think it’s really neat to see that there’s advancement still going on, even though they’ve been growing potatoes for hundreds of years up here. Trying to eliminate viruses and different disease resistances. I think it’s really neat. I didn’t grow up working the harvest or anything, so I didn’t have a lot of true appreciation for farming and the agricultural world up here, but I definitely have more of one now. I think that it’s an important role in the economy up here as well.
Kristen Brown:
I was really interested in Greg’s work. It seemed like the things that he was doing, and he is doing, is immediately applicable to agriculture and to Maine farmers, and I love that.
Gregory Porter:
This one has scab resistance. It also has immunity to potato virus Y. It’s got some resistance to late blight and pink rot. It carries a number of good disease resistance characteristics. Plus it has a nice bright appearance and good shape. We think it can be useful for fresh market. It’s done well in fresh market evaluations and it’s also looking like it’s got some potential for chipping.
Kristen Brown:
To be able to contribute to potato breeders around the world and say, “This is what we’ve seen in this variety that you love so much. It’s got this gene, and this gene, and this gene.” Then they can take that to whatever offspring they’re looking at and they can say, “Oh, these genes were passed on, or they weren’t.” I’m really excited about being able to help breeders be more efficient potato breeders.
Greg Porter:
I think it’s really exciting to be involved in the process of developing new varieties that help overcome problems for the industry. Whether it’s providing something that has better market quality, that gives people an opportunity to generate more profits and have a good experience with their customers, or developing a variety that has resistance to disease that’s causing problems for them.