Wing A · the good
No other plant took so little land and gave back so much. This wing collects what the potato made possible.
~375 Mt
Harvested worldwide each year
+25%
Of Old World population growth, 1700–1900
100+
Countries growing potatoes commercially
4,500+
Varieties conserved by CIP in Lima
A hectare of potatoes yields two to four times the food energy of a hectare of wheat or barley, and matures in 90–120 days. On poor northern soils this turned marginal land into survivable land.
Source · FAO; Wikipedia: Potato
Nunn and Qian's study of the Columbian Exchange attributes roughly 25–26% of Old World population growth and urbanisation between 1700 and 1900 to the introduction of the potato.
Source · Nunn & Qian, Quarterly Journal of Economics (2011)
Potatoes supply vitamin C, potassium, vitamin B6, fibre and quality protein. Potatoes and milk together cover almost every human nutritional need — one reason potato-fed populations grew taller and healthier.
Source · FAO: International Year of the Potato 2008
Cheap, storable calories freed rural labour for the mills and cities of the Industrial Revolution across Britain, the Low Countries and northern Europe.
Source · Britannica; Wikipedia: Columbian exchange
Andean farmers still grow thousands of landraces in colours from indigo to scarlet. The Parque de la Papa near Cusco conserves over 1,300 varieties in the field, with CIP holding more than 4,500 accessions.
Source · International Potato Center; Parque de la Papa
Drought-tolerant and blight-resistant clones bred in Lima are now grown across sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. The UN made 2008 the International Year of the Potato precisely for this reason.
Source · FAO; CIP