Aeroponic Technique Improves Potato Production
A project by Cornell University researchers promises to speed up the production of potato plantlets to be supplied to farmers.
Their aeroponic method produces ten times as much new tuber growth as that of potted plants. Additionally, it ramps up production of new potato varieties in the first year and gets them planted in the field quicker.
The method currently used by the industry involves growing the tiny plantlets from test tube cultures. In the first year, they are raised in greenhouses using a peat moss growing medium to produce "mini tubers," which are then grown in fields at the isolated farm for two successive years before being passed on to seed potato growers who cultivate them for another two to three years before selling them to commercial potato producers.
The new system replaces the peat moss with an aeroponic system which was initially developed in Peru. Potato plants are grown with their tuber-producing stems suspended in a chamber. They are misted regularly with a nutrient-rich solution that is recycled. The plants thrive, producing dozens of mini tubers over the course of 70-90 days. When they are about the size of a quarter, they are hand-picked to be planted in the field.
"We will be able to get growers more of what growers want, in a shorter turnaround time," said Keith Perry, Associate Professor of Plant Pathology and Plant-Microbe Biology at Cornell University. "We will be able to get new varieties into the marketplace faster."
This new process could be of great importance to the industry, which has suffered losses due to pest problems. Potatoes that are less susceptible to the devastating golden nematode pest are needed, and this new method would speed up development of resistant varieties.
Cornell University
