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The Potato Crop: Its Agricultural, Nutritional and Social Contribution to Humankind
The Potato Crop, 2020
The potato is the third largest crop in terms of human consumption after wheat and rice. While designing this book and its content, our main focus was to develop an updated reference for its users, built upon recent scientific progress. The book aims to strike a balanced perspective across different topics and levels in the agri-food systems, and across the myriad geographies where potato is an important crop, the main aspects related to the crop, and also the way forward through which the potato can increase its contribution to humankind, both from an income perspective and also as a provider of well-being and food security to the millions of potato producers and consumers and their families. The book is organized into four themes: the global and dietary relevance of potato, the genetic improvement of potato,, the many agronomic aspects needed for an efficient and effective production of potato and, finally, gender considerations and the role of participatory research approaches in potato. We trust this book will encourage We trust this book will encourage more researchers, particularly young ones, both males and females, to consider devoting their scientific pursuits to such a fascinating crop as the potato, and to inform decision-makers about the increasing importance of the potato in the food security of developing countries.
American Potato Journal, 1992
The production of potatoes has become important in Europe, especially since the 19th century. Since 1850 the yield of ware potatoes increased in The Netherlands from approximately 10 t ha-1 to the present level of 45 t ha-1. This was achieved by various improvements in production techniques. Several breakthroughs were accomplished in breeding for host resistance against pathogens. The current use of pesticides (nematicides, herbicides, fungicides, etc.) is high in potato production, at least in The Netherlands, particularly due to the use of fumigants to control nematodes in the starch potato growing areas. The Dutch government adopted objectives with respect to general reductions in the use of pesticides and the leaching of nutrients (nitrate). Adaptations in cultural measures are required to meet these objectives and to arrive at more sustainable systems of production in the future. In this paper special attention is given to past and present problems and possibilities with respect to cyst nematodes, late blight, wart, Colorado potato beetle, nitrogen nutrition, weed control, haulm destruction and sprout suppression.
Agriculture and Nutrition: The Food Revolution
Well-being, Sustainability and Social Development, 2018
The chapter analyses the fundamental changes in the agriculture and foods supply chain between 1850 and 1910 and investigates the consequences for the food supply, in particular for the poor. Initially, agriculture profited from the liberalisation of international trade. The mixed crop tillage farms in the region of the large rivers and on the sand grounds commercialised and specialised themselves. After 1880, cheap, especially American, grain imports cast Dutch agriculture into a profound crisis. In part because of this crisis a number of innovations were introduced, like the use of artificial fertiliser and the founding of agricultural cooperatives. In addition, common lands were to disappear and large tracts of heathland were to be reclaimed. The 1860s proved a turning point for the food processing industry. The revival of the domestic market in these years was a key factor. Also, a number of sectors oriented to foreign markets like the potato starch and the sugar beet industry flourished. The steam engine gained ground at the cost of horse-mills and windmills. Moreover new sectors like the margarine and the dairy-processing industry were established. The modernisation of agriculture and the food processing sector had contributed to the improvement of the food situation. That also resulted from changes in the tax structure, whereby taxes on food were lowered and from increased welfare.
Native Potatoes: From Forgotten Crop to Culinary Boom and Market Innovation
2021
Once neglected by urban consumers, Andean native potatoes are now essential ingredients for some of the most sophisticated gastronomy of the world. From colored chips to delicacy vegetables and even liquors, new products are making their way into high-income market niches. At the same time, native potatoes continue to fulfill their basic role of providing food security for many rural households in the Andes, who were responsible for domesticating them. Today, these families continue to plant native potatoes in diverse varietal mixtures which could contribute to longer term adaptation to climate change.
The Potato and Its Contribution to the Human Diet and Health
The Potato Crop
Potato has contributed to human diet for thousands of years, first in the Andes of South America and then in the rest of the world. Its contribution to the human diet is affected by cooking, potato intake levels, and the bioavailability of potato nutrients. Generally, the key nutrients found in potatoes including minerals, proteins, and dietary fiber are well retained after cooking. Vitamins C and B 6 are significantly reduced after cooking while carotenoids and anthocyanins show high recoveries after cooking due to an improved release of these antioxidants. In many developed countries potatoes are consumed as a vegetable with intakes that vary from 50 to 150 g per day for adults. On the other hand, in some rural areas of Africa and in the highlands of Latin American countries, potato is considered a staple crop and is consumed in large quantities with intakes that vary from 300 to 800 g per day for adults. These marked differences in the potato intake affect significantly the contribution of potato nutrients to the human dietary requirements. In recent years, information about nutrient bioaccessibility and bioavailability from potatoes has become available indicating higher bioaccessibility of minerals and vitamins in potato as compared with other staple crops such as beans or wheat. Bioavailability refers to the fraction of an ingested nutrient that is available for utilization in normal physiological functions and/or for body storage while bioaccessibility refers to the amount that is potentially absorbable from the gut lumen. In addition, potatoes have shown promising health-promoting properties in human cell culture, experimental animal and human clinical studies, including anticancer, hypocholesterolemic, anti-inflammatory, anti-obesity, and antidiabetic
INCREASED POTATO PRODUCTIVITY, ITS CONSEQUENCES AND SUSTAINABLE PRODUCTION
Potato is the fourth largest food crop grown in the World after rice, wheat and maize. India is the second largest producer after China with a total annual production of around 40 million tonnes. It is a very rich source of carbohydrate and a leading source of food energy in many countries. Potato can be converted into many processed products including chips (wafers), French fries, starch, baby foods and dehydrated. Potato is attacked by a number of pests and diseases including the devastating late blight disease which was once responsible for worst known famine of Ireland in 1845. As a result approximately one million people died and a million more emigrated from Ireland causing the island's population to fall by between 20% and 25%. To control these pests and diseases, a number of agro chemicals are used in most developing countries. Potato production has no doubt increased over the years however, at an alarmingly high cost to human health, soil health and environment. This article aims at highlighting the harmful effects of agro-chemicals used in potato production, potential damages and ways and means for healthy potato production. The article implies that clean potato production is possible in the developing nations as well through farmer awareness and a number of policy interventions.
The food system is continually evolving. The development of agriculture, the invention of the plow, the dawn of agricultural chemicals and the ongoing process of industrialization are among the revolutions that have transformed nations through food. Many of the most dramatic changes have taken place over the past century, ushering in an era of relatively abundant food production.