China researches weather-resistant potatoes

Grown in simulated conditions that predict higher temperatures by the end of the century, the potato is an ominous sign of future food security. Weighing 136 grams, the tuber is less than half the size of a typical potato in China, where the most common varieties are often twice the size of a baseball.

China is the world's largest producer of potatoes, which are vital to global food security because of their high yields compared to other crops. But potatoes are particularly vulnerable to high temperatures and climate change, as fossil fuel emissions are pushing temperatures to dangerous new highs and exacerbating droughts and floods.

Chinese scientists are working to create weather-resistant potatoes. (Source: Reuters).

With the urgent need to protect food supplies, Li, a researcher at the International Potato Center (CIP) in Beijing, is leading a three-year study on the impact of high temperatures on the crop. His team is focusing on two of China's most popular potato varieties.

Mr. Li's team grew potatoes for more than three months in a sealed chamber set at a temperature 3 degrees Celsius higher than the current average temperature in northern Hebei and Inner Mongolia - major potato-growing provinces in China.

Research published in the journal Climate Smart Agriculture in November found that higher temperatures accelerated potato tuber development by 10 days , but cut potato yields by more than half. The world is on track to see temperatures rise by as much as 3.1 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels by 2100, according to a United Nations report released in October.

"The biggest challenge for potatoes this year is the heavy rain. It has caused many diseases and significantly slowed down the harvest," said Wang Shiyi, a farm manager in Inner Mongolia.

The CIP research is part of a collaborative effort with the Chinese government to help farmers adapt to warmer, wetter weather. Li said Chinese farmers will need to make changes over the next decade, planting in spring instead of early summer or moving to higher ground to avoid the heat.