Conclusion: major findings and discussion

Abstract

Hybrid breeding may revolutionise the potato world, especially in low-and middle-income countries. The major impact will be on yield in remote and challenging agro-environments. We expect that hybrid breeding will increase the turnover of varieties in those environments when new seed systems based on hybrid true potato seed have been established. With faster breeding and multiplication systems, it is possible to produce clean seed and to respond to climate change as well as rapidly changing market and societal needs. For this revolution to happen, the potato production system (of both seed and ware) needs to be radically changed and such changes are not easy to orchestrate. During the introduction of such a potentially disruptive innovative technology, many actors, stakeholders and institutions play a significant role and each of these parties has its own objectives, interests, and concerns. This concluding chapter aims to answer the question how such a radical innovation can be steered in a societally responsible manner to realise global food security and sustainability in potato production. To guide and coordinate the system innovations triggered by the potential of hybrid potato breeding, strong public-private partnerships are required in different links of the potato value chain.

Responsible Innovation in Plant Breeding: The Case of Hybrid Potato Breeding

“…This particular Dutch perspective is also relevant for a broader understanding of the challenges and implications of hybrid breeding in various market contexts; this section mostly relies on ref. [59]. Hybrid breeding will allow breeders to respond much quicker to new market demands, with a significantly higher variety turn-over than in conventional potato breeding.…”

“…Our workshop and conference activities offered an excellent opportunity to further explore this question, in particular by focusing on the African international development context where the issues of food security and climate change are most challenging; this section mostly relies on ref. [59]. In this context, it is especially important to take into account the dominance of informal seed systems: potato seed tubers are mostly farm-saved, exchanged within farmers' communities or marketed locally, thus sustaining the livelihood of millions of resource-poor smallholder farmers.…”

“…In viewing the future of hybrid potato, we thus find a tension between transformation and integration as potentially conflicting approaches [59]. The more radical the transformation-with hybrid seed based on an agro-industrial variety portfolio, requiring labor-and capital-intensive crop management-the more obstacles will be created to the adoption of this seed by smallholder farmers.…”