Potato Research

The European Association for Potato Research (EAPR) publishes a journal, Potato Research, which includes original scientific contributions on both fundamental and applied research on potatoes, review articles and topics of general interest. It also contains Association news and reports on section meetings (including abstracts of papers presented).
A volume of the Journal (usually approximately 450 pages), consists of four issues, published in the same year. Submission of manuscripts is exclusively online via a web-based electronic submission and tracking system available at https://www.editorialmanager.com/potr

EAPR Members have online access to Potato Research (use the EAPR member login page)
A list of addresses of editors of ‘Potato Research’
Contents of ‘Potato Research’ can be found at Springerlink
Instructions for authors
Any comments regarding the publication and distribution of Potato Research should be addressed to EAPR

Springer Link

https://link.springer.com/journal/11540

Latest Issues

Integrating Attention Mechanisms and Squeeze-and-Excitation Blocks for Accurate Potato Leaf Disease Detection
27th January, 2025
Abstract

Precise and prompt detection of potato leaf diseases is crucial to minimize agricultural losses and maximize crop productivity. This research presents a novel perception-based framework to address this challenge efficiently. The proposed model leverages the strengths of MDSCIRNet and SEResNet101V2, incorporating depthwise separable convolutions, multi-head attention, and squeeze-and-excitation blocks to enhance feature extraction and classification. Advanced data augmentation techniques improved the training dataset and improved model generalization. Performance evaluations against state-of-the-art architectures demonstrated the superior accuracy and efficiency of the proposed model, achieving a training accuracy of 99.89% and a test accuracy of 99.67%. The results, validated through confusion matrices, classification reports, and performance graphs, confirm the effectiveness of the model in accurately detecting various potato leaf diseases. This novel approach provides a promising solution for early disease diagnosis, enabling timely interventions and reducing economic losses for farmers.
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Comparative Transcriptome Analysis of Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) Tubers at Different Developmental Stages of the Cryopreserved Germplasm
25th January, 2025
Abstract

Potatoes are crucial to food security and feeding the world’s rising population. However, various biotic and abiotic stress factors, such as late/early blight, bacterial wilt, and necrotic ringspot and cold storage warehouse temperature, pH, and moisture, respectively, affect crop productivity and nutrition. This study aims to investigate the impact of cryopreservation on gene expression in potato tubers, evaluating its feasibility for germplasm conservation and potential contributions to food security. Transcriptome analysis was conducted to identify differentially expressed genes, highlighting those involved in essential metabolic and developmental processes. Potato tubers were cryopreserved and later germinated to explore genetic differences following germination. High-throughput sequencing and analysis were performed on total mRNA from cryopreservation and germination stages. De novo transcriptome assembly was performed on processed raw reads, while BUSCO measured transcriptome assembly quality. The average quality data of 6.5 GB per sample (> Q20) and GC percentage of filtered clean reads were 88.92–89.23% and 43–46%, respectively. BUSCO’s assembly was 85% complete, and raw reads aligned to the assembled transcriptome from 78.7 to 83.2%. Cellular components, molecular function, and biological processes dominated Gene Ontology (GO) terms. Expression analysis revealed differentially expressed genes that showed how cryopreservation can alter gene expression to plan germplasm conservation, as it requires gene information. The differential expression analysis for each stage showed 798 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) (115 upregulated and 683 downregulated), 592 (54 upregulated and 538 downregulated), 923 (149 upregulated and 774 downregulated), and 1035 (649 upregulated and 386 downregulated) in the untreated and chemical treatment samples (1st stage), chemically treated and cryopreserved samples (2nd stage), cryopreserved and germinated samples (3rd stage), and untreated and germinated samples (4th stage), respectively. Photosynthesis and abiotic stress response genes were the most differentially expressed, while genes needed for average plant growth and development, such as citric acid cycle, cell elongation, root size determination, seed germination, and flowering, were the least. This study demonstrates that cryopreservation does not adversely impact essential genes for potato tuber growth, suggesting its viability as a safe method for germplasm conservation and potential use in sustainable potato production and food security strategies.

Graphical Abstract

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Optimization of Planting Geometry Can Manifest Performance, Energy Balance and Marketability of Table Potato
24th January, 2025
Abstract

Optimization of planting geometry and spacings plays a pivotal role in potato cultivation. The current study was conducted to evaluate the effects of different row arrangements (single row and paired row) and inter- and intra-row spacings on potato production. Paired row planting exhibited a substantially higher plant density, exceeding that of single row planting by 64.5%, and resulted in a 60.1% greater final plant population at harvest. Narrower inter- and intra-row spacings (40 cm and 10 cm, respectively) resulted in the highest plant density and dry matter accumulation, leading to a 10.7% higher tuber yield (25.8 t ha⁻1). However, wider spacings produced larger tubers, with the 55-cm inter-row spacing recording the highest share of tubers of > 100 g. Paired row planting resulted in a higher proportion of marketable tubers (57.3%) in the 41–100-g range, while single row planting produced more non-marketable tubers (< 40 g and > 100 g). Nutrient use efficiency, measured as the partial factor productivity of N, P, and K, was 10.7% greater in paired row planting than in single row planting. Energy output was greater in paired row systems, reaching 92.88 GJ ha⁻1, with the highest net energy recorded at 57.13 GJ ha⁻1 in the 40 cm inter-row spacing. Paired row planting with narrower spacings improved yield, nutrient use efficiency, and energy output, though at the expense of higher costs of cultivation. The current findings underscore the significance of optimizing planting geometry and spacing to achieve a balance between yield, tuber quality, and energy efficiency in potato production, tailored to specific production objectives.
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Mutual Relations Between Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi and Ralstonia solanacearum in Potato Brown Rot Disease
22nd January, 2025
Abstract

Potato brown rot disease can devastate potato production. Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMFs) are known to boost crop output. This study examines the interaction between AMFs and Ralstonia solanacearum, focusing on their effects on tuber yield and brown rot incidence. AMF increased the tuber yield by 68% (P = 0.03) in sandy soil and 30% (P = 0.047) in clay soil, along with an increase in HCO₃⁻ in sandy soil by 56% (P = 0.001) and a 24% increase in clay soil (P = 0.002). A 12% decrease in soil organic matter from 1.37 to 1.20% (P = 0.044) was recorded in sandy soil. AMF increased the pathogen populations in the rhizosphere from 3.2 to 7.8 (log CFU/g, P = 0.02) in sandy soil without a significant increase in Area Under the Disease Progression Curve. The pathogen decreased AMF colonization by 47% in sandy soil and 48% in clay soil, as well as sporulation by 63% in sandy and 57% in clay soils respectively (P < 0.05 for all). It decreased the densities of phosphate-solubilizing bacteria from 6.19 up to 5.39 (P = 0.001) in sandy soil and from 6.04 to 5.16 (P = 0.008) in clay soil. Additionally, the pathogen decreased the silicate-solubilizing bacteria from 6.94 to 5.32 (P < 0.001) in sandy and from 6.82 up to 6.17 (P = 0.04) in clay soils respectively. In conclusion, while AMF significantly increased potato yield, it is not recommended for soils infested with R. solanacearum due to the potential increase in disease risk.

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NARX Model for Potato Price Prediction Utilising Multimarket Information
17th January, 2025
Abstract

Agricultural price series are typically characterised by nonlinearity, nonstationarity, and inherent complexity, which make precise forecasting a challenging task. Artificial neural networks (ANNs) have demonstrated superior performance over traditional statistical methods in modelling such series. Incorporating auxiliary information has the potential to enhance forecasting accuracy. Amongst ANN-based architectures, the nonlinear autoregressive model with exogenous input (NARX) network stands out as a dynamic neural architecture that effectively leverages auxiliary information to develop data-driven nonlinear forecasting models for systems exhibiting nonlinearity. The NARX network addresses critical limitations such as the vanishing gradient problem, exhibits faster convergence, and offers superior generalisation capabilities compared to alternative networks. This study evaluates the predictive performance of the NARX model in forecasting potato price series for Delhi and Guwahati markets by incorporating prices from other markets with varying correlation values as exogenous inputs. Empirical findings indicate that the NARX model outperforms both the autoregressive integrated moving average with exogenous variable (ARIMAX) and time delay neural network (TDNN) models in terms of root mean square error (RMSE), mean absolute percentage error (MAPE), and directional accuracy statistics. Additionally, the results affirm that the accuracy gains achieved by the NARX model are positively correlated with the degree of correlation between the target and exogenous series. Furthermore, the Diebold-Mariano test confirms the statistically significant improvement in forecasting accuracy offered by the NARX model over competing approaches.
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Latest Issues

Integrating Attention Mechanisms and Squeeze-and-Excitation Blocks for Accurate Potato Leaf Disease Detection

Abstract

Comparative Transcriptome Analysis of Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) Tubers at Different Developmental Stages of the Cryopreserved Germplasm

Abstract

Graphical Abstract

Optimization of Planting Geometry Can Manifest Performance, Energy Balance and Marketability of Table Potato

Abstract

Mutual Relations Between Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi and Ralstonia solanacearum in Potato Brown Rot Disease

Abstract

Graphical Abstract

NARX Model for Potato Price Prediction Utilising Multimarket Information

Abstract

EAPR Sustaining Members