Federal Labs

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada

Potato Research Centre

http://res2.agr.gc.ca/fredericton/index_e.htm

P.O. Box 20280
850 Lincoln Road
Fredericton, New Brunswick
E3B 4Z7

Contact:

Mr. Richard Butts
Director
Telephone: 506-452-4802
E-mail: butts@agr.gc.ca

Mandate:

The Potato Research Centre develops new cultivars and technologies for the production, handling, and management of potatoes. The Centre also maintains a national repository of potato gene resources and conducts research on soil management and conservation.

Key Research Areas:

• The production of superior potato selections for commercialization by the Canadian potato industry
• Development of potato parental lines resistant to the Colorado potato beetle
• Environmental (soil and water) sustainability of cropping systems in Atlantic Canada, with particular reference to potato production
• Development of propagation and regeneration strategies in support of the Canadian potato nuclear stock and rapid multiplication industries and potato breeders
• Develop nucleic acid-based methods for virus and viroid detection and characterize the nature of genetic resistance to viruses in potato
• Biotechnology and development of molecular approaches for improvement of disease resistance in potato

Key Technology Development and Transfer Mechanisms:

• The Potato Research Network was established to enhance collaboration and cooperation among Agriculture and Agri-Food researchers working on potato.
• AAFC's Matching Investment Initiative is a way to increase collaborative research activity with the private sector. Under the MII, the Department will match up to one-for-one industry R&D contributions to collaborative research projects.

Research Facilities:

• The Centre is located on the outskirts of Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada, on the south bank of the St. John River. We operate a potato breeding substation at Benton, near Woodstock, N.B., about an hour's drive west.