Blog

Two years ago, we purchased a drone outfitted with a multispectral camera, and postdoc Filipe Matias collected the first set of aerial images of our breeding trials. To expedite analysis of the images, Matias developed the software FIELDimageR, and our manuscript was voted paper of the year in the Plant Phenome Journal! For the 2021…

“Potato 2.0” is a worldwide movement to develop diploid, inbred lines of potato, which would revolutionize the way potato varieties are bred and disseminated. UW-Madison is leading a national project to pursue this goal, supported by $4M in external funding from USDA NIFA and PepsiCo. More information about the project team and goals is available…

One of the challenges with potato variety development is learning how new varieties will perform when stored in the large piles used in commercial facilities. Varietal weaknesses to pressure bruise and storage diseases may not be discovered until late in the development process, which can lead to expensive failures. The Storage Research Facility of the…

Anil Adhikari joined our group this summer, after completing his PhD in wheat breeding at Texas A&M University. Anil gained some practical experience with the potato harvest this fall and is now focused on a joint research project with the Excellence in Breeding program. Anil will use simulation software to optimize the design of polyploid…

Congratulations to Becky Eddy for her recent profile in the Wisconsin potato industry magazine, the Badger Common’Tater.

Peyton Sorensen (B.S. Horticulture) has worked in the lab as an undergrad for several years and will continue as an MS student, researching marker-assisted selection in tetraploid and diploid potato. Lin Song (M.S. Plant Breeding & Plant Genetics) successfully defended her thesis on “Evaluations of F1, F2, and F3 Generations of Diploid Potato” and will…