How researchers are using drones to help Aroostook potatoes

PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — October 23, 2024 — University of Maine Potato Breeding Program Director Mario Andrade inspects a potato chemistry analyzer at Aroostook Farm in Presque Isle. The equipment is part of a $3 million investment by the University of Maine. (Paula Brewer | The Star-Herald)

A 110-year-old Aroostook County business is advancing its technology to ensure Maine’s potato industry thrives in the future.

Aroostook Farm in Presque Isle is using $3 million from the University of Maine to transform a former warehouse into an advanced research lab.

From farm to store to restaurant, the potato industry is expected to contribute $1.3 billion to the state’s economy by 2024. UMaine study. The work at Presque Isle was key to one of the biggest sales in decades: the Caribou Russet. With better research tools, the farm aims to breed new climate- and disease-resistant varieties faster and provide growers with seeds for the next potato success story.

“What I choose now will benefit the industry in 10-12 years. We see a tendency towards the fact that our winters are becoming milder, and summers are becoming hotter,” he said Mario AndradeAssociate Professor at the University of Maine and Director of the Potato Breeding Program. “If I can collect better data, the chance of finding a better potato will be higher.”

The funds come from the Maine Jobs Recovery Plan and will accelerate variety development, which is critical to strengthening Maine’s potato industry, Maine President Joan Ferrini-Mundy said. October 9.

Some of the new laboratory equipment has already arrived.

At Aroostook Farm on Wednesday, Andrade photographed freshly picked potatoes using a special lightbox and cataloging software. It’s vital to monitor how each test variety looks from growth to harvest, he said.

Another machine detects sugar in potatoes. It’s more important than people realize, Andrade said. Too much sugar turns potatoes brown, which is taboo, especially for potatoes that will become French fries.

The farm used part of the funding to purchase drones that will fly and photograph the farm’s nearly 6,000 test plots, helping staff monitor growth and see how weather, pests and disease are affecting different varieties.

The biggest addition will be an optical sorter that will photograph each potato and classify it by size, he said. Employees now sort and weigh each potato by hand, a very slow process.

The new lab will also expand the farm’s capabilities for DNA science, which is the future of variety development, Andrade said. By analyzing DNA, researchers can precisely mix parent plants to produce potatoes with desired traits.

Faster data collection and genetic work could cut the time it takes to grow new potatoes by about a third, he said. It takes more than a decade: After years of scientific testing, growers try the variety, and then the Maine Potato Board and Cooperative Extension work to introduce it to more farmers when it’s officially released.

Founded in 1914 Aroostook farm is one of several farms and laboratories that are part of the university Minsk Agricultural and Forest Research Station. It is the largest experimental farm at 425 acres. Other sites explore blueberries, vegetables, livestock and other Maine agriculture.

Developing a potato variety typically takes 10 to 12 years, said Diane Rowland, dean of the University of Maine’s College of Earth, Life and Health Sciences and director of the experiment station.

“As we see increasing changes in the environment, the need to rapidly breed new varieties is critical,” Rowland said. “Mario learns all kinds of characteristics and can select potato traits for regions. Such data will allow him to do it.”

According to the National Potato Council, more than 200 varieties of potatoes are now grown in the United States.

The farm is staffed by Superintendent Randy Smith and a team of research scientists and technicians. But he does more than breed potatoes.

A local UMaine Cooperative Extension office operates on site. Extension specialists, including Andriy Alyokhin, entomologist, and I. Kutai Ozturk and Jay Hao, plant pathologists, study potato pests and diseases. Bee Khim Chim focuses on soil health and nutrients. The USDA also has an on-farm testing facility.

Rowland said Aroostook Farm is truly the epicenter of potato science at UMaine. Different scientific disciplines work together to develop sustainable crops, from seed creation to weather and disease resistance.

She said it was critical that the research be conducted in central Maine, where most of the potatoes are grown. Potatoes that grow well in Florida, for example, may not do well in county soil.

This local connection is critical to the industry, Minsk potato board This was announced by the executive director, Jenny Tapley. Based in Presque Isle, the council works with farm and Extension staff on potato research and trials, and is a liaison between growers and marketers.

Growers and board members can visit the farm’s test plots to observe growth and how new disease strains, such as Potato Virus Y, affect the plants, she said.

Board and former breeding program director Greg Porter developed the Caribou Russet and the new Hamlin Russet, which is gaining national popularity. It’s important for board members, producers and researchers to collaborate at the local level, Tapley said.

“We work together on all aspects of development,” she said. “You have to be open about what the manufacturers are seeing and the different studies.”

According to Lee Hecker, assistant director of the Agricultural Experiment Station, demolition has begun inside the research facility, which is slated to begin. The old caches are thrown out and the new floor is in place. According to him, the site can be launched in the spring.

Andrade is looking forward to the new lab, which will help him and his small staff, which often includes graduate students, create potatoes that meet the constant challenges of nature.

His predecessor, Porter, was able to produce nearly a dozen varieties in 17 years leading the breeding program, Andrade said. This is phenomenal in the conditions of the slow work of breeding science.

“If I only see two new varieties, I’ll be very happy,” he said.