Super Spuds in Greenland

Some growing news from Nuuk...


Greenlandic Super Potatoes

The potato crop in Greenland has produced some super healthy potatoes which are better than their foreign counterparts. Curious researchers are now carrying out a study on the super potatoes.

Sermitsiaq, May 17, 2009 (http://sermitsiaq.gl/erhverv/article84448.ece?lang=EN)

There is something about the Greenlandic earth that is preventing fungus diseases like mould from attacking and destroying Greenlandic potatoes and it has piqued the interest of Danish researchers, reports Politiken Søndagnewspaper.

Potato farmers from Denmark and many other countries are often faced witha fight against mould, which destroys the shoots, or reduces the qualityand growth of the crop. Researchers have sought for years to uncover theunexplainable mechanisms and are now starting to see some results.

‘We have established that there is mould present in the earth in Greenland that is of the same kind as that in Denmark. At the same time, we have found bacteria, that is not present in Danish soil and which is thought to be especially suitable for Greenland’s climate conditions. The laboratory tests show that it releases substances that inhibit mould. But we don’t know precisely which substances in the bacteria are effective, it could also be the cold which hampers the mould’s growth, or a combination of the two,’ said microbiologist Peter Stougaard to Politiken.
Stougaard is an associate professor at the Department of Agriculture and Ecology at the University of Copenhagen.

‘If we can identify a bacteria that can inhibit the growth of damaging mould at low temperatures, then we open the possibility of using it to protect potato crops grown in other cold locations, such as Alaska that are plagued by mould. It could lead to treating the potatoes with bacteria before they are put in the ground,’ said Stougaard.