Never mind the rice and wheat, Try potatoes!!

To Counter Problems of Food Aid, Try Spuds By ELISABETHROSENTHAL<http://query.nytimes.com/search/query?ppds=bylL&v1=ELISABETH%20ROSENTH\AL&fdq=19960101&td=sysdate&sort=newest&ac=ELISABETH%20ROSENTHAL&inline=nyt-per>VITORIA-GASTEIZ, Spain — With governments having trouble feeding the growingnumber of hungry poor and grain prices fluctuating wildly, food scientistsare proposing a novel solution for the global food crisis: Let them eatpotatoes.Grains like wheat and rice have long been staples of diets in most of theworld and the main currency of foodaid<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/f/food_aid/inde\x.html?inline=nyt-classifier>.Now, a number of scientists, nutritionists and aid specialists areincreasingly convinced that the potato should be playing a much larger roleto ensure a steady supply of food in the developing world.Poor countries could grow more potatoes, they say, to supplement or evenreplace grains that are most often shipped in from far away and are subjectto severe market gyrations.Even before a sharp price spike earlier this year, governments in countriesfromChina<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/c\hina/index.html?inline=nyt-geo>toPeru<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/pe\ru/index.html?inline=nyt-geo>toMalawi had begun urging both potato growing and eating as a way toensurefood security and build rural income.Production in China rose 50 percent from 2005 to 2007, and the governmenthas called potatoes "a way out of poverty." In Peru, where potatoes aretraditionally part of the highland diet, President AlanGarcía<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/g/alan_garcia/\index.html?inline=nyt-per>hasled a campaign to promote potato eating in cities. Schools, prisonsandarmy canteens are serving papapan, bread made with potatoes, helping toincrease potato consumption by 20 percent increase this year.A decade ago, the vast majority of potatoes were grown and eaten in thedeveloped world, mostly in Europe and the Americas. Today, China and India —neither big potato-eating countries in the past — rank first and third,respectively, in global potato production. In 2005, for the first time,developing countries produced a majority of the world's potatoes."Increasingly, the potato is being seen as a vital food-security crop and asubstitute for costly grain imports," said NeBambi Lutaladio, an expert onroots and tubers at the UnitedNations<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/u/unit\ed_nations/index.html?inline=nyt-org>Foodand Agriculture Organization in Rome. "Potato consumption is expandingstrongly in developing countries, where potato is an increasingly importantsource of food, employment and income."Though the price of grains has receded in recent months from historic highs,grains are still far more expensive than they were just two years ago. TheUnited Nations agency continues to strongly encourage countries to diversifyinto potato production, Mr. Lutaladio said, adding: "The world economy hasentered a phase of wild swings. New and even more severe high price eventscould be just around the corner."And so the potato's image is shifting from that of a food fit for peasantsand pigs (and associated mostly with a devastating famine in Ireland) to aserious nutritional aid and an object of scientific study. When the UnitedNations announced last year that 2008 would be the Year of the Potato, fewtook it seriously. That was before grain prices doubled between early 2007and spring 2008, and the United Nations World FoodProgram<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/w/worl\d_food_program/index.html?inline=nyt-org>announcedthat it needed an extra half billion dollars to buy grain.Dr. Pamela K. Anderson, director of the International Potato Center, aglobal scientific research center in Lima, Peru, said that as recently lastyear, the most common question she fielded concerned her favorite potatorecipe. "Now the food system is so fragile that people have stoppedlaughing. People are asking, 'How can potatoes help solve the problem?' "Dr. Anderson was one of dozens of international scientists who met thismonth here in the heart of Basque country at Neiker Tecnalia, a 200-year-oldpotato research center. Their goal: to discuss advances in potato farming,like the development of pest- and drought-resistant strains that could usedin poorer countries.Potatoes are a good source of protein, starch, vitamins and nutrients likezinc and iron. As a crop, they require less energy and water to grow thanwheat, taking just three months from planting to harvest. Since they areheavy and do not transport well, they are not generally traded on worldfinancial markets, making their price less vulnerable to speculation. Theyare not generally used to producebiofuels<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/b/biofuels\/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier>,a new use for food crops that has helped drive up grain prices. When grainprices skyrocketed, potato prices remained stable.Beyond that, potato yields can be easily increased in most of the world,where they are grown inefficiently and in small numbers.Thanks to the "green revolution" of the 1970s, yields of wheat, rice andcorn jumped by more than 50 percent in a decade as fertilizers and newplanting techniques were used. Potatoes never got that kind of attention.In poor countries, potato yields are still relatively low, at just one tofive tons of potatoes per hectare (about 2 1/2 acres), less than 15 percentthe yield in the developed world.From the perspective of traditional food aid programs — which buy or receivefood from where it can be produced cheaply and efficiently and send it towhere it is needed — potatoes have limitations.Because they spoil easily and are heavy to ship, groups like the World FoodProgram avoid them. Pound for pound, they contain less protein than wheat,although, looked at another way, an acre of potatoes yields more proteinthan an acre of wheat."They are quite perishable, especially in hotter climates; they sprout androt quite quickly," said Tina van den Briel, a nutrition expert at the WorldFood Program. She said, too, that potatoes were currently a staple food invery few countries, although they were widely used in stews."Moving from rice to potatoes is a big leap for people," she said.Nonetheless, the agency has made it a priority to increase production offood for aid in the countries where it is needed, both to lessentransportation costs when fuel costs are high and to aid local economies.Potato growth and consumption have already markedly increased in Africancountries in the past five years, although potatoes were introduced to thecontinent only about 100 years ago. In Rwanda potatoes have become thesecond-most important source of calories, after cassavas. Potato productionand consumption are also expanding rapidly in Nigeria and Egypt, accordingto the Food and Agriculture Organization.One sign that potato growing is spreading: The world's largest potatoprocessing company, McCain Foods Ltd., has opened factories in China andIndia in the past two years.The yield at a number of farms inIndia<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/i\ndia/index.html?inline=nyt-geo>doubledin the past two years, to 20 tons a hectare, after McCain gavebetter seeds to small farmers who supply its new factory, said DanielCaldiz, a company executive.In Chile, where about 50 percent of production comes from small farmers,government projects to provide better seeds have increased yields by 25percent in the past decade, said Horacio Lopez, a government potato expert.In poor countries, farmers seed new potatoes using leftovers from theprevious year's crop, which are often infected with pests. Internationalagricultural companies cultivate and export germ-free "clean seed" potatoesthat are much more productive, but these are expensive.The International Potato Center is trying to help poor countries producetheir own clean seed potato lines."When you plant a potato it gives you food security," Dr. Anderson said. "Itstrengthens the local economy, instead of just sending in food."