We better watch we don't sleepwalk into another potato famine, says expert

Scottish Sun

29-05-2025

'I'm not a betting man, but if I was, my money would always be on the pathogen'
SPUD WARING We better watch we don't sleepwalk into another potato famine, says expert
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window)
Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
THE United Nations International Day of the Potato is celebrated today - but boffins fear the humble spud is under global threat.
Experts at the renowned James Hutton Institute, that researches land and crops from its centres in Dundee and Aberdeen, will mark the occasion by discussing the pressures facing mass potato production.
4
Professor Ingo Hein from the James Hutton Institute.
4
Matt Damon in the 2015 hit film The Martian.
4
Matt Damon growing potatoes on Mars in the film The Martian.
And there are serious topics to discuss as spuds feed two thirds of the eight billion people on planet Earth.
Chief Features Writer MATT BENDORIS speaks to professor Ingo Hein, Head of Potato Genetics, at The James Hutton Institute.
WHEN people tell Professor Ingo Hein there could never be another potato famine like the one that killed a million people in the 19th Century, he remarks: 'And many thought they'd never be another pandemic.'
The devastating disease - known as the blight - struck Ireland in 1845 leading to mass starvation.
It was caused by the arrival of a pathogen - a microorganism that causes disease - called Phytophthora infestans that saw crops fail all across the Emerald Isle.
Professor Hein said: 'And it wasn't just Ireland as crops failed on the West Coast of Scotland too.
'Ireland's population has never recovered as so many died or immigrated. They had eight million people before the 1840s but they have never reached that number again.'
Three years ago the United Nations decided to launch the International Day of the Potato as so much of the world - especially developing countries - rely on the humble tattie to feed their populations.
Professor Hein, who has been at the Scottish Institute since 1999, explains: 'Potatoes are the only main crop that has all the amino acids of life.
'So if you eat potatoes with butter, you're sorted. You literally have everything the body needs.
'Sure, it might not be the best diet in terms of diversity, but you can live off of it.
'That's why it was so popular in Ireland. It was the only crop they could afford to feed themselves.'
He adds: 'It's also likely that if man ever gets to Mars, that will be the first crop grown there - just like in the Matt Damon movie The Martian.
'That's because potatoes need seven times less water to grow than cereals, but converted into calories they are much more efficient.'
But one of the UK's favourite potatoes, the King Edward - first grown in 1902 - hasn't changed its genetic make-up in over a century, along with the Maris Piper - introduced to the UK in 1966.
And Professor Hein believes that makes them vulnerable to a new disease in the same way Covid became the first pandemic since the Spanish Flu which killed an estimated 50 million people from 1918.
He said: 'I'm not a betting man, but if I was, my money would always be on the pathogen.
'You've seen it with Covid. There was a pathogen, we had vaccines, they protected against it, and then the pathogen changed.
'It's exactly the same with diseases that affect potatoes. Because the way we have to grow potatoes on a large scale, it's an easy scenario for a pathogen to actually gain a foothold, adapt, and then have a negative impact.
'They are mainly spread by aphids which are wind-dispersed. So it doesn't know any boundaries. It will jump from one country to the next country.'
The Professor believes that all the advancements in chemicals and pesticides are not the answer, insisting natural genetics is the key.
He said: 'Here at the Institute in Dundee we have the Commonwealth Potato Collection.
'Many don't look like potatoes, but they are potatoes. And they really have the diversity that we need to protect the crops from pathogens and pests.
'But also from a changing environment, which the potato is ideal for, because it actually grows on every continent apart from Antarctica.
'So it's incredibly versatile and can be adapted. But the key really is in the wild species of potato. And that's what we are tapping into.'
He adds: 'We can even breed them to be really nice looking potatoes. So they will have all the resistances, but will be different to Maris Piper. But still just as tasty.'
The James Hutton Institute is now working towards establishing a National Potato Innovation Centre, which aims to harness the combined strengths of research and industry across the UK to future-proof potato as a crop.
They are also trying to come up with ways to combat nematodes - parasitic worms that have hit parts of Scotland's potato production.
Professor Hein, 51, said: 'Once your land is contaminated with these nematodes, you cannot grow seed potatoes - which is the first stage of production - on your land. So we're actually losing land at a rapid rate.
'The Scottish Government has recognised this issue and they've put funding in to try and address this.'
But while the UK may be able to navigate another famine by importing more from India and China - the biggest potato producers in the world - he believes not so well off nations will suffer.
He said: 'Potatoes are a huge staple food in Africa, Asia and South America, so many of these places would struggle and there would be really bad consequences.
'Many people just don't think about the potato as it's such a huge part of our daily life and is plentiful, but we must make sure they remain that way.'