This book is open access under a CC BY 4.0 license. This book provides a fresh, updated and science-based perspective on the current status and prospects of the diverse array of topics related to the potato, and was written by distinguished scientists with hands-on global experience in research aspects related to potato. The potato is the third most important global food crop in terms of consumption. Being the only vegetatively propagated species among the world's main five staple crops creates both issues and opportunities for the potato: on the one hand, this constrains the speed of its geographic expansion and its options for international commercialization and distribution when compared with commodity crops such as maize, wheat or rice. On the other, it provides an effective insulation against speculation and unforeseen spikes in commodity prices, since the potato does not represent a good traded on global markets. These two factors highlight the underappreciated and underrated role of the potato as a dependable nutrition security crop, one that can mitigate turmoil in world food supply and demand and political instability in some developing countries. Increasingly, the global role of the potato has expanded from a profitable crop in developing countries to a crop providing income and nutrition security in developing ones. This book will appeal to academics and students of crop sciences, but also policy makers and other stakeholders involved in the potato and its contribution to humankind's food security.

About the Author: Dr. Hugo Campos has over 25 years of international experience developing varieties through plant breeding and biotechnology in diverse tropical and temperate crop species. He is currently the Director of Research at CIP, the International Potato Center and was previously the Head of Plant Breeding at CTC, the world's largest private sugarcane research center. He has worked at Pioneer, a Dupont Company and Monsanto as a Research Fellow. While at Monsanto, he twice received the prestigious "Above and Beyond" award for outstanding achievements. Dr. Campos holds a BA in Agronomy from the Universidad Austral de Chile, Highest Honors, and a PhD from the John Innes Centre, Norwich, UK. He is part of the editorial board of the Tropical Plant Biology and a member of the Scientific Board of Verdant BioScience (Singapore) and the Chilean Academy of Agricultural Sciences.
Dr. Oscar Ortiz is the Deputy Director-General for Research and Development and has worked at the International Potato Center for more than two decades. An agronomist by training, Dr. Ortiz received his BA from the Universidad Nacional de Cajamarca, Peru, his MSc on Agricultural Extension and Crop Production from the Universidad Nacional Agraria la Molina, and his PhD from Reading, UK. He led the CIP's Integrated Crop Management Research Division and the Integrated Crop and systems Research Global Program until 2013, when he was appointed Deputy Director of Research for Regional Science Programs. Dr. Ortiz has spent a decade leading and managing interdisciplinary teams involving both the biophysical and social sciences. He has extensive experience in participatory research and training related to integrated insect and disease control; integrated crop management; agronomy and seed management; impact assessment of research and extension activities; and the use of agricultural knowledge and information systems for research and development. He has published extensively in peer-reviewed journals, book chapters and conference proceedings.