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Potato Seeds
The Incas used them centuries ago; modern scientists "discovered" them less than 20 years ago: they are TPS, or True Potato Seeds, and they are nothing other than potato seeds. Usually, potatoes are grown by planting the tubers themselves, saved from the previous year's harvest or bought in specially. It's the simplest method: from the shoots of the tuber the new plant is born, on whose subterranean sprouts new tubers form. Instead, the TPS develop on the plant as the flowering ends, enclosed in tomato-like pods.
The advantages of botanic seeds? Loads. The seed is resistant to all diseases except the Spindle Tuber Virus. You can choose which time of the year to plant them and you need a very small patch of earth: The seeds are planted in a greenhouse or nursery and later the mini-tubers will be re-planted in the soil. Instead tubers are planted directly in the earth and need a vast area. Equally evident are the practical advantages for transport and storage; botanical seeds are also decidedly cheaper than tubers.
Therefore for all these reasons they are deemed to be ideal for farmers in developing countries. Now 30 countries in the world use TPS, including China and India, and various Latin American countries including Nicaragua, where seeds cover 40% of production. It is also the most suitable method to produce genetically modified potatoes: using "real seeds" the CIP has obtained potatoes that are more resistant to ice and drought. So what are the skeletons lurking in the closet of these apparently magic seeds?
Actually nothing truly terrifying: the main problem is the complete lack of uniformity in the potatoes' appearance. Each seed in fact, can develop into a potato that can be completely different from its neighbor, in terms of shape, size and color. |
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