Long, white-skinned potatoes in the produce section of your supermarket might be "Defender"—the only commercially grown potato in the United States today with tubers and leaves that fend off late blight disease. Worldwide, late blight is generally regarded as one of the worst diseases of potatoes.
Besides starring as a fresh-market potato, Defender also can be processed into frozen products. ARS scientists in the Small Grains and Potato Research Unit , Aberdeen, Idaho, and the Vegetable and Forage Crop Research Unit, Prosser, Wash., worked with university colleagues to in Idaho, Oregon and Washington develop this superior spud. They put it through more than a decade of rigorous outdoor tests before making it available to growers, processors, potato-seed companies and others last year.
The plant's natural resistance to late blight allows growers to use either no fungicides—or much smaller amounts—to control the disease. This feature makes the potato ideal for conventional and organic farms alike.
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