Workshop to commemorate the International Year of the Potato

WORKSHOP TO COMMEMORATE
THE INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF THE POTATO - 2008

Bangkok, Thailand, 6 May 2008

Edited by

Minas K. Papademetriou

RAP PUBLICATION 2008/07

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific

The designations employed and the presentation of material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Food and Agriculture organization of the United Nations concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.

Reproduction and dissemination of material in this information product for educational or other non-commercial purposes are authorized without any prior written permission from the copyright holders provided the source is fully acknowledged. All rights reserved. Reproduction of material in this information product for resale or other commercial purposes is prohibited without written permission of the copyright holders.
Applications for such permission should be addressed to:
Chief, Electronic Publishing Policy and Support Branch
Communication Division
FAO
Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, 00153 Rome, Italy
or by e-mail to: copyright@fao.org

For copies write to:
Meetings and Publications Officer
FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific
Maliwan Mansion, 39 Phra Atit Road
Banglamphu, Bangkok 10200
THAILAND
Tel: (66-2) 6974000
Fax: (66-2) 6974445

Abstract

At its sixty-eighth session in December 2005, the United Nations General Assembly declared 2008 the International Year of the Potato. The UN Declaration reflects the importance of the potato in the diet of the world’s population and affirms the need to focus world attention on the role that the potato can play in providing food security and alleviating poverty in support of the Millennium Development Goals. The potato is the world’s most important tuber vegetable, with a vital but often underappreciated role in the global food system. It is a staple food that contributes to the energy and nutritional needs of more than a billion people worldwide. In most of the developing countries today, the potato is considered to be the fourth most important food crop after rice, wheat and maize. Therefore, the potato should be a major component in strategies aimed at providing nutritious food to the poor and hungry. Potatoes are rich in protein, calcium, potassium, and vitamin C, and have an especially good amino acid balance. The crop is ideally suited to places where land is limited and labour is abundant, conditions that characterize much of the developing world. Moreover, the potato is a highly productive crop. It produces more food per unit area and per unit time than wheat, rice and maize. There is no doubt that in recent times the potato has become significantly more important for Asia and the Pacific region, which, like many other parts of the world, is facing enormous challenges today as a result of soaring food prices. In this connection, and taking into consideration the importance of this crop in the region, this one-day workshop aimed to: raise awareness of the merits of the potato; review the situation regarding the potato sector in Asia and the Pacific region; and elaborate on key issues and propose further actions needed to promote sustainable potato crop production and development in the region.