Professor Ani Widiastuti, from the Department of Plant Pests and Diseases, Faculty of Agriculture at Universitas Gadjah Mada (Faperta UGM), was one of the speakers at the Global Hybrid Potato Alliance (GHPA) Workshop and the International Conference on Green and Efficient Production on Potato and Sweet Potato held in Jinan, Shandong Province, China.
The four-day event, held from April 16 to 19, 2025, was hosted by the Agricultural Genomics Institute in Shenzhen.
This international conference was attended by 250 participants, including academics and researchers from across the globe, specializing in potatoes and sweet potatoes. Participants included experts from the International Potato Center (CIP), AsiaBlight Network, Crop Improvement Science Project, International Potato Center (CGIAR), the James Hutton Institute (JHI) in the UK, and various leading universities.
“The conference discussed recent developments in potato and sweet potato research, both in the field and in molecular breeding advancements,” Professor Widiastuti explained at the Faperta UGM on Monday, April 28, 2025.
During the session on hybrid potato development, several countries presented updates on their national research progress. Researchers and observers from Kenya, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Malawi, Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, Laos, Bangladesh, South Korea, and Inner Mongolia shared the prospects and advancements in hybrid potato research.
Professor Widiastuti attended the event with Dr. Meksy Dianawati, a potato breeding expert from Indonesia’s National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN). At the workshop, they discussed the potential development of hybrid potatoes to produce True Potato Seeds (TPS), a process already initiated in China with a variety named U-Potato 1.1.
It is hoped that following the workshop, research collaborations will be established among the participating countries to develop hybrid potato varieties.
She emphasized that the conference was significant not only for staying up-to-date with the latest global scientific and technological advances but also for fostering closer cooperation.
“Particularly among Asian and African countries, for the development of potatoes and sweet potatoes, which are two of the world’s staple food crops,” she added.
Author: Agung Nugroho
Post-editor: Lintang Andwyna