New potatoes on the 2024 variety list of Switzerland

The potato industry was faced with difficult weather conditions for the third time in a row. The cool, wet spring followed by a dry summer was anything but ideal for the tubers. Adapted and resilient varieties are necessary to be able to continue growing potatoes in Switzerland despite the increased frequency of extreme weather events, we learn from a press release from Swisspatat, November 30, 2023. Robust varieties project comes to an end Since 2020, the Swisspatat inter-professional association, together with the Agroscope agronomic research station and the HAFL High School of Agronomic, Forestry and Food Sciences, has been testing various varieties of potatoes to determine their susceptibility to late blight (Phytophthora infestans), a fungal disease, as well as their tolerance to heat and drought. This project funded by the Federal Office of Agriculture will be completed next summer. The varieties tested can nevertheless already be cultivated using significantly fewer ...