Diversified Use of Apical Cuttings to Boost Potato Seed Systems
Addressing seed shortages for potato is a perennial challenge in many potato-producing countries. Potato seed systems rely on several successive generations of bulking seed tubers to produce commercial seed, with multiplication ratios averaging 1:10-15 for each generation, compared to 1:200 for true seed crops.
As a consequence of these low multiplication ratios, three to four successive seasons in the field are required to produce commercial seed that is economically viable for the seed producer to sell and the farmer purchasing seed. Critical to seed potato production is the starter material used for onward multiplication. Traditionally, minitubers produced from tissue culture plants using soil-, hydroponic- or aeroponic-based systems in a screenhouse serve as starter material for onward bulking in the field. Apical cuttings are an alternative to minitubers as starter material for seed production.
The speaker of this webinar will be Dr. Monica Parker (see bio below). The host for the webinar series will be WPC Director, Dr. Nora Olsen ([email protected]).
To register in advance for this webinar on May 05 , 2020 at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Standard Time go to:
https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_bkdRv0T9RqmoEsv-sVoOqg
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.
Following registration, you will receive a confirmation email which contains information about joining the webinar.
Monica Parker
Dr. Parker is based in Nairobi, Kenya with the International Potato Center with roles as a Principal Investigator and providing leadership for Potato for Africa Program. With a career spanning 15 years in agriculture, primarily in Africa, Dr. Parker specialises in agricultural development through research and development, and delivering science. Bringing a multi-disciplinary approach, her work encompasses technical and project leadership, strengthening partnerships, and program growth. Her scientific studies on seed systems, quality assurance, good agricultural practices and scaling technologies inform her work. Through science at the forefront to improve farm productivity and bring positive livelihood changes, Monica further delves into validating how the technologies and approaches foster business development by assessing agronomic and economic outputs and outcomes of interventions. She conducted her MSc (1999), and PhD (2012) and Post-Doctoral Fellow in Plant Pathology from Simon Fraser University and the University of Guelph, respectively.