ARS and WSU holding baby potato workshop
Farm and Ranch December 11, 2009 Researchers at the Irrigated Agricultural Research and Extension Center in Prosser will present a workshop next week on some of their "baby potato" research funded by the Washington State Potato Commission. And just what is a baby potato? Navarre: “Well these are developmentally young potatoes. Typically they are harvested about the one ounce size so about golf ball sized potato harvested from a young plant.” That is Ray Navarre of the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service. He and other researchers have found that baby potatoes are higher in phytonutrients and vitamins than mature potatoes and this past summer they grew out about 90 different breeding lines at the WSU research farm in Othello. Navarre: “And so we have gone through tubers from those 90 lines and looked at the phytonutrient content and we found some that are especially high in phytonutrients and anti-oxidants. So we are going to be presenting those results at the workshop so the growers and the industry can take a look at these and see which ones have the most potential for their purposes.” The goal is to find baby potato varieties high in phytonutrients and vitamins that can be promoted as healthful to consumers. The December 14th workshop begins at 10 a.m. at the Irrigated Agricultural Research and Extension Center in Prosser. That’s the Northwest Farm and Ranch Report. Brought to you in part by the Washington State Potato Commission. Nutrition today. Good health tomorrow. I’m Bob Hoff on the Northwest Ag Information Network. ?
