Yield Gains in US Potato, Contributing Factors and Future Prospects.

Potato is the leading vegetable crop in the United States, with production valued at $4.0 billion.  Potatoes are produced throughout the country and across all seasons. The highest production is in Idaho, Washington, Wisconsin, Colorado, Oregon and North Dakota. Yields are highest in Washington, Oregon and southwestern Idaho, where a long growing season, favorable day to night temperature regimes, irrigated production, and abundant solar radiation combine to produce high yields. Potato yields per unit land have increased more dramatically than those of any other vegetable crop during the past seven decades. Gains are credited to grower specialization, improved production and storage technology, improved cultural practices, and a shift in production to the high-yielding environments of the Pacific Northwest. Genetic gains for yield have been negligible in comparison, although newer potato varieties have produced significant economic benefits in terms of increased marketable yield and improved tuber quality. Current potato production has a much more diverse cultivar base than it did 30 years ago. The potato crop is well-positioned to utilize diverse germplasm resources to meet future production demands. It seems likely that genetic improvement will make a greater contribution to productivity increases in the future, but only if customers are willing to accept newer varieties. Improvements in our understanding of potato genetics and genomics are likely to contribute to the goal of increasing yield by making the breeding process more efficient.