Potato production and its constraints in Peru

The paper is focused on the potato production in Peru, that is the Latin America's biggest potato producer, with a record harvest in 2007 of almost 3.39 million tones, followed by Brazil, Argentina, Colombia and Mexico. National potato production is enough for internal demand; the annual consumption in is about 80 kg per capita. The cultivated area in Peru is about 270000 ha, which is produced mainly by small farmers, at altitudes of from 2000 m to 4500 m in the Peruvian highlands. Today, in Peru, there are around 3000 cultivated varieties of potato, which include the eight species some of them are exclusive to the Andes. Unfortunately, potato biodiversity in Peru is vulnerable, partly due to the tradition of local knowledge being passed down through the generations by word-ofmouth, young people move to the cities, and also by abiotic and biotic threats. The study underlines the main constraints on potato productivity, but also the solutions the research activity may offer to sustain the efforts in crop improvement