International Potato Center - Work

Work

Conserving the genetic resources of root and tubers has been a priority of CIP since its founding. The Center holds the largest collections of potato and sweetpotato in the world, held as public goods under the auspices of the United Nations International Treaty. The genetic resources maintained by CIP represent the heritage of many nations and the labor of countless farmers, plant explorers and geneticists.

CIP’s genebank holds 7180 varieties of potato, 8026 varieties of sweetpotato and 1556 varieties of Andean root and tuber crops. Genebanks conserve living samples of the world’s huge diversity of crop varieties and their wild relatives. They ensure that the genetic resources that underpin our food supply are both secure in the long term and available for use by farmers, plant breeders, and researchers. The Center has distributes hundreds of thousands of samples of this germplasm to researchers worldwide.

CIP’s global priorities include sustaining root and tuber biodiversity; breeding more nutritious, adaptable, pest-and-disease-resistant varieties; and building resilient agro-economic-social systems for marginal populations in developing countries.

Roots and tubers are rich in carbohydrate and other nutrients, grow on land that often does not support other crops, use less water, are more productive and have uses both as food and as raw materials for a wide range of industrial products. As the world population continues to grow, strains on agriculture in developing nations will become more pronounced and roots and tubers will become more important as sources of food, feed and income for the poorest of the poor in Asia, Africa and Latin America.