A cultivar of potato resistant to diseases and flooding that has been developed in Taiwan could help ease a global shortage of the crop amid climate change, the Taiwan Agricultural Research Institute said on Friday.
Speaking at a crop demonstration in Chiayi County’s Lioujiao Township (六腳), the institute said the potato was created in a program to crossbreed the Atlantic potato and high-yield varieties, which it conducted from 2016 to 2019.
The resulting cultivar, named Tainung No. 4, is tolerant of wet conditions, resilient against disease and easy to process — all desirable qualities for large-scale food production and organic farming, it said.
Photo courtesy of the Taiwan Agricultural Research Institute
The Tainung No. 4 was last month patented by the Agriculture and Food Agency, and the institute said it expects to begin working with farmers in the township to plant it some time next year.
Climate change has affected potato farming by causing floods and diseases, resulting in significant revenue losses, the institute said, adding that environmentally resilient varieties are in high demand.
An important measure of potato quality is dry matter content, which refers to the percentage of a potato’s weight that remains after water is removed from it, the institute said.
The Tainung No. 4 has a dry matter content of 22 percent, about the same as its parent, the Atlantic potato, which is considered a quality crop, and higher than that of the widely planted Kennebec potato at 19 percent, it said.
Tainung potatoes are evenly sized, and about 70 percent of the yield consists of large marketable tubers, while its low sugar content means it does not brown easily when fried, the institute said.
Another advantage is that the potato is easy to cook, as it has a pleasant, crumbly texture and can be boiled for a long time without becoming mushy, it said.
The variety has a planting to harvest time of about 100 to 110 days, is a mid-season crop and does not fully wither after being harvested, the institute added.
ANOTHER EMERGES: The CWA yesterday said this year’s fourth storm of the typhoon season had formed in the South China Sea, but was not expected to affect Taiwan Tropical Storm Gaemi has intensified slightly as it heads toward Taiwan, where it is expected to affect the country in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 8am yesterday, the 120km-radius storm was 800km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving at 9kph northwest, the agency said. A sea warning for Gaemi could be issued tonight at the earliest, it said, adding that the storm is projected to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday or Thursday. Gaemi’s potential effect on Taiwan remains unclear, as that would depend on its direction, radius and intensity, forecasters said. Former Weather Forecast
As COVID-19 cases in Japan have been increasing for 10 consecutive weeks, people should get vaccinated before visiting the nation, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said. The centers reported 773 hospitalizations and 124 deaths related to COVID-19 in Taiwan last week. CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) on Tuesday said the number of weekly COVID-19 cases reported in Japan has been increasing since mid-May and surpassed 55,000 cases from July 8 to July 14. The average number of COVID-19 patients at Japan’s healthcare facilities that week was also 1.39 times that of the week before and KP.3 is the dominant
The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) working group for Taiwan-related policies is likely to be upgraded to a committee-level body, a report commissioned by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said. As Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is increasingly likely to upgrade the CCP’s Central Leading Group for Taiwan Affairs, Taiwanese authorities should prepare by researching Xi and the CCP, the report said. At the third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the CCP, which ended on Thursday last week, the party set a target of 2029 for the completion of some tasks, meaning that Xi is likely preparing to
US-CHINA TRADE DISPUTE: Despite Beijing’s offer of preferential treatment, the lure of China has dimmed as Taiwanese and international investors move out Japan and the US have become the favored destinations for Taiwanese graduates as China’s attraction has waned over the years, the Ministry of Labor said. According to the ministry’s latest income and employment advisory published this month, 3,215 Taiwanese university graduates from the class of 2020 went to Japan, surpassing for the first time the 2,881 graduates who went to China. A total of 2,300 graduates from the class of 2021 went to the US, compared with the 2,262 who went to China, the document showed. The trend continued for the class of 2023, of whom 1,460 went to Japan, 1,334 went to