Potato Research on PEI

By M.K. Sonier

Potato research on PEI is carried out by a wide range of players from government to private industry to growers themselves. The PEI Potato Research Committee was resurrected in 2009 to share information and encourage collaboration on current research. Here is a brief description of some potato research carried out on PEI:

Agriculture & Agri-Food Canada
Dr. Rick Peters leads a national study examining the biology and management of potato diseases. He is involved in evaluating foliar and post harvest applications of phosphorous acid, both alone and with fungicides, to prevent late blight and pink rot. A national survey on potato seed infected with Fusarium spp is under way. Samples submitted from across the country are tested for sensitivity to various fungicides used as seed piece treatments. They are also looking at various treatments to help management of seed piece decay.

Two rotation studies are ongoing at Harrington Research Farm. The first is looking at eight four-year rotations for use in organic production. The second study involves conventional production and evaluates the disease suppression gained by using non-traditional rotation crops as green manures.

A study with the provincial government is looking at minimum tillage and how it impacts common scab. Plots are grown at the Harrington Farm, along with six split field trials across the Island.

Dr. Christine Noronha is an entomologist and her research projects in 2009 included a wireworm survey being conducted in collaboration with the PEI Department of Agriculture. (Wireworm has caused most problems in southern coastal areas and the survey will help to tell if the pest is spreading.). They are in the final year of a three year rotation study being conducted in two commercial fields. Strips that have had mustard, buckwheat, barley and alfalfa were planted in last year’s crop and evaluated for wireworm damage.

Dr. Noronha conducted another pesticide evaluation trial in 2009 to look at the new product Capture® and combinations of Capture and Admire®. She is looking at the use of a trichogramma wasp to control European Corn Borer.

Dr. Bud Platt is a full-time researcher with five national and three international projects on potato disease management. His areas of research include: Oomycetes causing late blight, pink rot and leak; Verticillium wilt pathogens; and development of integrated disease control strategies.

Walter Arsenault is evaluating the advanced breeding selections from the Fredericton and Lethbridge potato breeding programs. These trials give PEI growers a chance to see how these new varieties grow in our local climate.

Dr. Jerry Ivany is involved in the project looking at rotations for organic potato production. He is preparing to publish the results of projects that evaluated the effectiveness of new herbicides.

Processing Companies
Cavendish Farms has a research department that includes Dr. Robert Coffin, Stephanie Veenhuis-MacNeill and William Hardy. The 2009 work at Cavendish Farms included: potato variety trials; research on factors affecting nitrate content in topsoil and subsoil after potato production; effect of fresh cutting vs. pre-cutting Russet Burbank seed; assessing the efficacy of phosphorous acid and other fungicides to control Late Blight; assessing new products for scab control and assessing the effect of soil fumigation on suppression of Verticillium fungus.

Steven Moorehead is the Agronomist for McCain Foods on PEI. Some of the projects this company is working on include: optimization of phosphorous fertilization; optimization of in-row seed spacing; evaluation of new processing varieties; irrigation scheduling; yield maximization; residue management and insecticide trials to control wireworm.

PEI Potato Board
Over the last 20 years the Potato Board has been involved in research, primarily by being the applicant to obtain provincial or federal funding for projects carried out by a third party or government researchers. The Board has also participated directly in local projects by providing cash or in-kind contributions. In 2009, with
assistance through the Agricultural Research Fund, the Board ran a trial looking at new seed and tablestock varieties. The Board was also involved in a series of projects on late blight control. The Board now plans to provide seed money on an ongoing basis to help leverage further government funding.

Potato Research Innovation

Soil fertility research conducted for the 2009 growing season by the PEI Department of Agriculture included both nutrient management split field trials in conjunction with the Province’s Crop Insurance Program and Zero Nitrogen Potato Trials. Producers participating in the split field trials through Crop Insurance receive a 4% discount off the total premium paid for crop insurance, for the combination of completing both an Environmental Farm Plan and Nutrient Management Plan. Producers had to have completed an Environmental Farm Plan for their farm within the last 5 years, and also were required to participate in nutrient management planning for their insured crops.

According to preliminary data, over 125 producers took advantage of the discount and at least 175 trials have been in place for the 2009 growing season. The largest numbers of trials were conducted on potatoes, followed by grains such as barley, wheat, oats, etc. The purpose of the split field trials is two-fold: one, to provide producers with the opportunity to trial nutrient management recommendations and improve confidence in nutrient management planning at NO risk to the producer; and two, to assist the nutrient management program in developing and fine tuning nutrient recommendations for PEI.

Zero Nitrogen Potato trials were conducted at five locations. The purpose of the project is to establish and calibrate a Soil Nitrogen Supply Test under a range of soil and climatic conditions in Atlantic Canada. In each trial, a small portion of the field received no nitrogen fertilizer application at all. The project is part of an Atlantic wide project over three consecutive seasons to establish soil nitrogen recommendations based on spring soil sampling.

National Research Council
Potato Nutriscience Research Highlights

Dr. Bourlaye Fofana is one of the new faces in potato research — his area of expertise is molecular biology and he is headquartered at the NRC facility at UPEI.

Potatoes are a major source of carbohydrate energy and mineral nutrients, and offer potential as an important source of beneficial metabolites such as anthocyanins, flavonoids, and carotenoids. Using a selenium solution applied to seed potatoes before planting, we were able to increase 4 – 8 times the selenium content in the daughter tubers of 5 different varieties. The ultimate goal is to see how the selenium-enriched potatoes in conjunction with anthocyanins, flavonoids, and carotenoids affect antioxidant capacity which ultimately affects chronic diseases.

BioPotato Network

There are four streams of research underway that involve researchers from a variety of Canadian Research Centres and universities including Holland College, UPEI and the Food Technology Centre.

The following description of the work underway was taken from the website www.biopotatonetwork.ca.

The BioPotato Network’s focus is currently structured into four research areas, which are referred to as streams.

Stream 1 – BioActives, Functional Food and Nutraceuticals
This stream encompasses the developing of potato varieties for use in the production of value-added functional food, nutraceutical and pharmaceutical products. Potential therapeutic benefits of these products will be examined in relation to a number of health conditions affecting Canadians including neurodegenerative diseases, stroke, auto-immune disorders, diabetes, allergies, infections, heart disease and obesity-related diseases.

Stream 2 – Low Glycemic Index and High Fibre Functional Food
This stream will look at developing new potato germplasm for the food sector, which is high in slowly digestible or resistant starches and fibre content. It will also look at the health benefits to the consumer.

Stream 3 – New Potato Starch for Functional Food, Pharmaceutical and Bioplastic Uses
This stream will focus on the development of cross-linked potato starch and hydrocolloid gums as functional food ingredients, resistant starch and functional pharmaceutical excipients. New technologies will also be developed through the work in this stream adding to the overall economy.

Stream 4 – Botanical Insecticides and Biopesticides for Insect Control
The focus of this stream will be to develop novel, environmentally compatible pest-control agents to replace pesticides that have been withdrawn for economic or regulatory reasons.