Publication:

Potato genetic resources in Spain

Plant genetic resources activities in Spain are globally organized by the Instituto Nacional de Investigación Agraria (INIA) and in particular by one of its institutes, Centro de Recursos Fitogenéticos (CRF). Collections of beans, maize, cereals and many other crops are maintained, evaluated and characterized in the station at Alcala de Henares near Madrid. However, the situation is different for potato. Germplasm collections of potato are maintained in collaborating institutes or private companies. The largest collection with 604 accessions is held at NEIKER (former CIMA, Centro de Investigación y Mejora Agraria), which has been traditionally, as the Station for potato improvement (Estación de la Mejora de la Patata), the cradle of seed potatoes in Spain. Other remarkable collections are maintained at the Public University of Navarra (UPNA), the Instituto de Agrobiotecnología y Recursos Naturales (116 accessions) and the public enterprise APPACALE (213 accessions), which produces seed potatoes and also performs potato breeding in Spain.