A recent study conducted by scientists with the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) and cooperators shows the potato germplasm Neo-Tuberosum, used by potato breeders to develop new cultivars, has origins that can be traced to Chile, not to the Andes as previously believed.

Climate change is expected to exacerbate drought events throughout the world, resulting in large-scale ecosystem alteration and failure of drought-sensitive crops. In addition, periods of drought vary from year to year in severity and length, making it difficult for plants to adapt to more severe conditions. Many modern varieties of potatoes are considered to be drought-sensitive. However, evolution and cultivation in the cold, dry Andean Altiplano gave rise to a number of potato varieties that could tolerate drought.

By Terry Wade As wheat and rice prices surge, the humble potato - long derided as a boring tuber prone to making you fat - is being rediscovered as a nutritious crop that could cheaply feed an increasingly hungry world.

By Anonymous T'ikapapa is a marketing social concept that enables resource- poor farmers from the Andean highlands to sell their distinctly labeled native potato crop in Lima's supermarkets. It has improved the income and livelihood of many farming families in Peru's high Andes.

As food prices continue to skyrocket, there is growing concern about the effect it will have among the world’s poor. Increasingly, experts are looking to the potato as a possible low-cost solution to feed the hungry.