Here, the potato is queen. The “Potato Park” was created 25 years ago in Peru to protect and promote the diversity of starch cultivation. It should be remembered that Peru is the cradle of the tuber. It was born in the Andes more than 8,000 years ago, before being introduced to Europe after colonization in the 16th century.
In this very serious “PDad’s arch”, located in Cuzco in southeastern Peru, right in the middle of the Andes mountain range, 7,000 farmers produce potatoes. This life-size laboratory allows you to observe, experiment and preserve potatoes. There are no less than 4,000 varieties in Peru and in this park alone, around 1,400.
The peasant technicians who work there are referred to here as the “guardians of the potato”, because they are in charge of preserving the seeds and seeing to their good reproduction. Nazario Quispe Amau, one of these peasants who received training in agronomy, wants to present a very important building in the park: “We are here in the Seed Bank, this is where we keep the seeds from harvesting and selection. We save them for our food security.”
“We obtained 750 varieties of botanical seeds in 2015, and they have since been kept in three copies: one in the park, one in Lima at the International Potato Center, and one in the World Seed Bank, Norway. “
Nazario Quispe Amau, a technician-farmer from the parkat franceinfo
“They can be kept for 150-200 years, not only for Peru but for the whole world, for future generations”, proudly continues Nazario Quispe Amau.
If the potato is so important in this region, it is because it constitutes the basis of the diet. We eat it at every meal, from breakfast to dinner. Rich in nutrients, and above all, resistant: it grows in sometimes extreme conditions, up to more than 4,500 meters above sea level, which makes it an asset for local populations.
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However, the inhabitants of the park are confronted with the effects of climate change. They are forced to adapt potato cultivation to the new conditions because the starch needs cool temperatures. In recent years, farmers have observed that it is grown at increasingly high altitudes, 300 meters higher in 25 years, because of the rise in temperatures which could ultimately threaten their food security.
So these growers try to select and preserve the varieties that are the most resistant to ensure good production. This is what they are doing in partnership with scientists from the Potato Center in Lima, the capital, and with local associations. They detect the genes that respond best to given climatic conditions, those resistant to disease or drought, for example. The park is designed as a veritable food and genetic granary, a key to the food of tomorrow.