THE POTATO STORY-A RESEARCH WITH QUESTIONABLE PRIORITY

If one reads the rosy report from one of the agricultural research organizations in India, supposed to be working on improvement of potato crops, an impression is created that Indians gobble potatoes in quantities higher than those in Russian or UK where it is practically a staple crop. It is well known that potato in India is consumed more as a part of the vegetable group and no where in the country it is taken as a staple food. The claim by scientists in this research institute that they were able to increase the protein content in a new transgenic variant developed by them has to be viewed in the context of above ground realities vis-à-vis potato. While in a country like Russian Federation the annual per capita consumption of potato is as high as 131 kg, it is only a paltry 17 kg in India and therefore increasing protein content in potato through years of research cannot be expected to have any impact at all.

"A team of Indian scientists have developed a genetically modified potato which they claim is packed with up to 60 per cent more protein than an ordinary tuber. The potato variant created by researchers at National Institute for Plant Genome Research (NIPGR), here was also found to have increased levels of essential amino acids, which are otherwise limited in potatoes. Reporting their findings in the journal ''Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences'', the scientists said these transgenic potatoes will gain much public acceptance than other genetically-modified crops as it uses a gene from another edible crop -- the amaranth seed. "Because potato constitutes an important part of the diet of many people in developed as well as developing countries, it is apparent that this can add value to potato-based products with enhanced benefits for better human health," said Subhra Chakraborty, the lead researcher of the project. "Our strategy also offers unique opportunities for the genetic engineering of unique traits into the next-generation crop to accrue nutritional benefits," Chakraborty said. The NIPGR scientists inserted the gene called AmA1 (Amaranth Albumin 1) into seven types of potatoes and then grew the transgenic potatoes over two years".

While any scientific endeavor deserves applause for the painstaking and dedicated efforts of the scientists concerned, the utility value both short term as well as long term must not be overblown. In this particular case the scientists have used the transgenic route to achieve a higher protein content in the new variant which may have serious consumer acceptability problems and requires elaborate clearance protocols to be gone through from safety angle. Taking into consideration that fresh raw potato, a predominantly carbohydrate source, has just 2% proteins, an increase of "up to 60%" in protein content may not be of much significance in India. Taking into consideration the average per capita daily consumption, calculated at less than 60 gm , the new variety can at best contribute daily only 1.8 gm protein as compared to 1.2 gm from traditionally grown potatoes. As most of the calories in the Indian diet is delivered through the staples like rice and wheat which account for more than 50% of food calories consumed daily, substantial amounts of proteins are received from them estimated at more than 30 gm a day. Further milk, pulses and egg, fish and meat provide rest of the requirement of proteins.

V.H.POTTY
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