A Summary of Groundbreaking Research on Potato Resilience to Abiotic Stress
Since its launch in July 2020, the Horizon 2020 project Accelerated Development of Multiple-Stress Tolerant Potato (ADAPT) has undertaken extensive research to increase the resilience of potatoes under various abiotic stresses linked to climate change. Europatat, the European Potato Trade Association, has played a key role in this multi-national initiative, collaborating with leading research institutions across Europe to explore and develop new strategies for creating stress-resistant potato varieties.
With the growing pressures of climate change impacting agriculture worldwide, potato crops—vital to food security—are increasingly vulnerable to heat, drought, and other environmental stresses. The ADAPT project has addressed these challenges through a structured approach, organized into multiple work packages, each contributing a specialized area of research. Now, after four years of intense collaboration, the findings are available in a comprehensive new section on the ADAPT website.
Key Results from ADAPT’s Research Packages
Each work package (WP) has contributed unique insights into how potatoes can be adapted to withstand combined and individual abiotic stresses:
- WP1: Field Phenotyping
This package focused on evaluating potato varieties in field conditions to gather real-world data on stress tolerance. By identifying traits linked to resilience, WP1 has laid the groundwork for selecting more robust cultivars for breeding. - WP2: Physiological Profiling
Through physiological profiling, researchers measured responses in potato plants under stress, observing how factors such as water retention, nutrient absorption, and growth were impacted. This data is crucial for understanding the mechanisms that enable certain varieties to perform better under adverse conditions. - WP3: Tuberization Signaling
The timing and development of tuber formation—critical for yield—were examined under stress conditions in this work package. Identifying the signals that trigger or inhibit tuberization under stress provides valuable guidance for developing varieties with reliable yield potentials even in less favorable climates. - WP4: Molecular Signaling
Delving into the molecular level, WP4 investigated the genetic signaling pathways that activate under stress. This research offers insights into how genetic markers and interventions can improve the resilience of potatoes by reinforcing these stress-response mechanisms. - WP5: Data Integration and Modelling
This work package synthesized data from field, physiological, and molecular studies into predictive models. These models provide a blueprint for breeders and agronomists to anticipate how certain potato traits perform under different environmental stressors, supporting more informed breeding decisions. - WP6: Pathways to Impact
To ensure the project’s findings have real-world impact, WP6 focused on outreach and knowledge transfer. This package has engaged stakeholders across the agricultural sector, from farmers to policymakers, to support the implementation of these research outcomes into sustainable farming practices.
Broad Collaboration and Future Implications
This project reflects a collaborative effort among some of Europe’s top agricultural research institutions, including Universität Wien, Universiteit Utrecht, The James Hutton Institute, Wageningen Plant Research, Univerzita Palackého v Olomouci, the Centre for Research in Agricultural Genomics (CRAG), and leading industry players such as HZPC, Meijer Potato, Solana Research GmbH, Photon Systems Instruments, and AGES. Through these partnerships, ADAPT has produced a roadmap for developing potato varieties capable of thriving in diverse and challenging environments, reinforcing the importance of international cooperation in agricultural research.
As the findings from ADAPT continue to shape potato breeding and farming practices, Europatat’s active participation exemplifies its commitment to promoting sustainable solutions for the European potato industry in the face of climate change.
