Potatoes USA Research, New Varieties Stats, & Breeding Lines
Dr. David Douches, Chris Long, and John Lundeen with Potatoes USA will present the progress made in new variety development, plus, share results of the 2021 trials and advanced breeding line that have commercial potential for the industry.
Thursday, February 3rd
10:40am - 12:15pm
About The Speakers
Dr. Dave Douches, Michigan State University
David S. Douches, with over 38 years of experience in potato breeding and genetics, has an active potato breeding program directed toward the development of improved cultivars in Michigan for 34 years. The focus of the program is to develop new cultivars for Michigan’s potato industry by integrating new genetic engineering techniques with conventional breeding efforts. Key traits targeted for improvement Colorado potato beetle resistance, disease resistance to scab, late blight, PVY, and chip processing from long-term storage. Dave leads the Michigan State University potato breeding and genetics project and co-PI in the North Central Regional Potato Breeding and Genetics project. He is director of the USAID-funded Feed the Future Biotechnology Potato Project for Indonesia and Bangladesh and the lead scientist in developing four potato SNP arrays used by the potato breeding and genetics community.
Chris Long, Potato Specialist Michigan State Univeristy
As Senior Potato Specialist and Leader of the Potato Outreach Program (POP), Long serves as the liaison between the Plant, Soil and Microbial Sciences Department at Michigan State University (MSU) and the Michigan Potato Industry Commission (MPIC). As Program Lead of the POP, Long works to cultivate the potato industry through applied collaborative research. This is achieved through on-farm research and demonstration trials, grower focused informational meetings, and industry directed publications. The Potato Outreach Program’s responsibilities include conducting on-farm variety trials, coordinating research with faculty, agri-businesses and potato growers to achieve the application of newly developed technology. The Potato Specialist coordinates the annual research farm field day at the Montcalm Research Center. Long also serves as the coordinator of the B. F. Cargill Demonstration Storage, coordinator of the MPIC Research Report, co-operator in the MSU Annual Variety Day and the project leader in a well logger data collection study. Long is an Ex-officio Board member of the Michigan Potato Industry Commission and Michigan Seed Potato Association. As the Potato Specialist, Long serves on the following industry related MPIC committees: Storage and Handling Committee, Research Committee, and the Variety Release Committee. The POP also conducts the national, SNAC-International and National Fry Processing Trials in Michigan. Long is a program manager for the Potatoes USA National Chip Variety Trial Program (NCVTP) and a technical advisor to SNAC-International on potato production topics.
John Lundeen, Research Director, Potatoes USA
John heads up the production research effort at Potatoes USA. Specific scientific endeavors within the research group’s purview include the facilitation of major trials for chip and fry breeding candidates. In addition, the research group seeks to up the win rate for scientific teams seeking major funding and then serves on those teams in an outreach capacity to communicate results back to growers. John’s deep leadership experience is in research, business development, positioning, and agriculture. Innovative leadership and team management skills stretch from planning to project delivery.
