Maximum Yield Australia/New Zealand March/April 2020 | Page 72

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FACTS ON
POTATOES
by Philip McIntosh
Potato or potahto… no matter.
This tuberous vegetable is
used for all kinds of things all
over the world.
1 Like other early staples of central and South American agriculture
(corn, squash, and beans) the potato has been in cultivation for many
thousands of years, likely originating in Peru and Bolivia.
2 The potato, Solanum tuberosum, is yet another member of the
nightshade family, which includes tomatoes, peppers and —
the deadly nightshade — Belladonna.
3 The green parts are toxic if eaten in sufficient quantity. There are
4 Unlike the other Solanaceae, which are sources of fruit, the
5 However, the noble spud is indeed a reproductive structure,
as anyone knows who has seen one sprout roots after sitting around
for too long waiting to be eaten.
6 The importance and popularity of this vegetable is evident in the
7 The Irish Potato famine of 1845 is well known to most, but the
8 Ironically, it is thought that the introduction of the potato to Europe
by the early explorers actually reduced the incidence of famine in that
part of the world going forward.
9 The International Potato Center in Peru is a source of germ plasm
and cultivars of thousands of potato varieties.
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many reports of mass poisonings attributed to eating green potatoes.
potato provides a starchy underground tuber that must be dug up to
harvest. Definitely not a fruit.
fact that it is the fifth-most grown crop in the world, only behind corn,
wheat, rice, and sugar cane.
nearby Highland Potato Famine in Scotland resulted in the emigration
of 15 per cent of the population, mostly to Canada and Australia.
Potatoes can be grown hydroponically in NFT beds. Hydroponically
produced starters are field planted and then grown to full size.