The potato genetic resources held in trust by the International Potato Center (CIP) in Peru

Potatoes account for about half of the world's annual output of all roots a nd tubers, and since the early 1960s, the increase in area planted in devel oping countries has been higher than for any other major food crop. Annual world production currently totals 274 million tons on 18 million hectares, with China and India accounting for 22 percent of this total. In less than a generation, most of the world's potatoes will be harvested in Asia, Afric a, or Latin America, where the potato is becoming an increasingly important source of food and its cultivation provides rural employment and income fo r the growing population. The rapid emergence of processing facilities for the fast food industry, and the indirect influence of improved rice and whe at irrigation systems have also contributed to the expansion of potato prod uction in Asia. The demand is strongest for processing quality potatoes tha t supply the fast food chains in large urban concentrations where processed potato products fetch top prices. Such increasing demand is putting strong pressure on national and international breeding institutions to produce hi gh quality processing varieties well adapted to the wide array of agro-ecol ogical conditions, in South East Asia in particular. The lack of adequate s eed systems in this region is the single most important impediment to the e xpansion of the cultivation of the crop. Unfavourable agro-ecological condi tions interfere with the production of high quality seed in most Asian pota to growing areas, and the availability of high quality seed of the right qu antity at the right time remains the most consequential bottleneck to effic ient potato production. The seed issue is also the principal problem of pot ato cultivation in the traditional potato growing areas of Central and East ern Europe. A review of "the development of integrated systems for large sc ale propagation of elite plants using in vitro techniques" with specific fo cus on "potato seed production by tissue culture" is therefore very timely. It provides a platform for analysis and discussion of solutions for some o f the most common seed problems facing the potato industry in many parts of the word. All efforts to improve the potato crop and to solve the associat ed seed problems begin with the right choice and use of the available genet ic resources. Resistance to certain pests and diseases has a direct bearing on the success of a seed program. Multiple virus resistance, in particular , would ensure a halt to seed degeneration caused by an accumulation of vir uses and thus greatly prolong the ability of seed producers and ware potato growing farmers to grow their crops at great economic benefit. This paper will therefore deal with the current status of the World Potato Collection held in trust by the International Potato Center (CLP) in Peru by presentin g up-to-date information on its classification, phytosanitary status and av ailability of the genetic material and its evaluation data to the breeders worldwide.