Message #121900

[Bianca]

ANDEAN POTATO FIELD








                                                 Saving the Potato in its Andean Birthplace






John Roach
for National Geographic News
June 10, 2002

The Spanish conquistadores toppled the Inca Empire in the 16th century in their quest for silver and gold. They returned to Europe with a different sort of earthly nugget dug from the elaborate terraces sculpted into the sides of the Andes—the potato.

Potatoes have since spread to nearly 150 countries around the world; hundreds of millions of tons are grown annually, and the potato has become a staple in the world's diet.

 
 But in the Andes, where the potato got its start, market forces, years of drought, and changes in cultural priorities are eroding the status and the diversity of the potato.


Nearly 4,000 different varieties of potato can be found in the Andes, and scientists, economists, and historians are racing to record and preserve the genetic diversity to ensure it does not disappear as suddenly as did the Inca Empire.