International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture

International Treaty celebrates International Potato Day in Potato Park

@FAO/Miguel Arreategui

02/06/2025

Parque de la Papa, Pisac, Peru - 2 June 2025 A delegation from the Secretariat of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture and FAO-Peru was invited to join International Potato Day celebrations at the Potato Park, in a remarkable indigenous initiative dedicated to the conservation and sustainable use of potato varieties native to the Peruvian Andes.

The Potato Park, or Parque de la Papa, consists of 9,280 hectares of wild and farmed landscapes and is home to over 1,350 potato varieties. Rich in cultural heritage, the park is governed by four Quechua communities, drawing on deep-rooted traditions and indigenous knowledge. The Park’s mission is to safeguard Andean biodiversity through sustainable practices and community-led conservation, while maintaining the delicate balance of ecosystems.

"On this International Day of Potato, we celebrate ancestral seeds that withstand the climate crisis - feeding our communities and offering solutions for global food security," said Jesus Chipa Pacco, President of the Association of the Communities of the Potato Park.

Although the communities of the Potato Park have long celebrated May 30th as the time of potato harvest in the Andes, the day has gained global recognition in recent years. Since its official designation as the International Day of Potato by the United Nations in 2023, 30 May has been marked by farmers, communities, and institutions around the world. The day spotlights the crop’s cultural importance, genetic diversity, nutritional value, and ongoing contributions to global food security and sustainable livelihoods. Thousands of organizations celebrated the importance of potatoes, including through seed fairs and potato variety contests.

Rooted in the past, reaching to the future

The special visit on International Potato day also provided an opportunity to reconnect with the Indigenous farmers involved in a Benefit-sharing Fund project implemented by Asociación ANDES between 2009 and 2011. One of the project’s impactful achievements was the construction of a community seed bank within the Potato Park.

The seed bank enabled the historic deposit of 750 native potato seeds to the Svalbard Global Seed Vault – the first such deposit made on behalf of Indigenous groups. In a symbolic journey, farmers traveled over 11,000 kilometers to deliver the seeds to the Arctic vault themselves.

For women in the Park, our seeds are like our children. During the planting season, we protect and watch over them constantly,” says Briseida Sicos Palomino of the Sacaca community. “When we harvest, women have the role of selecting potatoes for chuño (a traditional freeze-dried potato) for planting, for consumption, for sale.

Thanks to our ancestral knowledge of potatoes, the women of the Park reached Svalbard in the North Pole,” says Briseida, as she recalls accompanying the potato seeds on the journey from the Potato Park in Cusco to the Global Seed Vault in Svalbard, Norway.

For others, it may just be a journey, but for us, it's a source of pride!” she says. “My children now feel proud, and I tell them: ‘You too must take care of these potatoes and leave your mark.’ My dream is that these seeds never disappear; that new generations continue to preserve diversity, because potatoes are the basis of our diet. That's why we brought them to Svalbard: so they can survive climate change.

The seed bank in the Potato Park has become a model of integration traditional knowledge with scientific approaches to conservation of plant genetic resources. The seed bank maintains seeds and slips of cultivated, semi-cultivated and wild relatives, upholding Indigenous knowledge systems and collaborating with institutions such as the International Potato Centre. Since its establishment, the seed bank’s infrastructure has been strengthened and enhanced to enable the distribution of potato diversity.

The communities at the Potato Park are now planning to establish a farmers’ cooperative to support local seed multiplication and improve market access for high-quality native potato varieties.

From Pisac to Lima

Peru is a center of origin and diversification not only for potatoes, but also for several other important crops such as maize, quinoa and chili peppers.

The Potato Park in Pisac exemplifies Peru’s status as a megadiverse country, home to an estimated 25,000 species,” said Álvaro Toledo, Deputy Secretary of the International Treaty during his visit.

Peru is the host of the Eleventh Session of the Governing Body of the International Treaty, to be held in Lima from 24 to 29 November 2025, bringing together 154 Contracting Parties and other stakeholders.

This is a historic moment – the first time the Treaty’s Governing Body meets in Latin America, a region rich in culture and a cradle of agricultural biodiversity,” said Kent Nnadozie, Secretary of the International Treaty. “Our gathering in Peru, where many staple crops originated, underscores the reality that the plants which nourish us are a shared legacy, linking all nations and generations in responsibility and hope.

 

@PlantTreaty

#ItAllStartsWithTheSeed 

#InternationalDayOfPotato #BenefitsharingFund #CropDiversity

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