Hear from James Hutton Institute about the living library of over 1500 potato species

Join us for a fascinating talk exploring the Commonwealth Potato Collection (CPC) – a living library of over 1,500 wild and primitive cultivated potato species from across South America.

First established in the 1930s by pioneering plant collectors Edward Balls and Jack Hawkes, this unique UK-based resource is safeguarded at The James Hutton Institute with support from the Scottish Government.

From the frozen peaks of the Andes to the heat of the Bolivian cloud forests, the CPC captures extraordinary genetic diversity, offering solutions to today’s most urgent agricultural challenges. These species hold traits for disease resistance, drought tolerance, and climate resilience, and have already delivered genes that protect half of the UK’s listed potato cultivars from devastating pests.

Discover how this small but significant collection is a critical resource for food security, where cutting-edge genetics and genomics research is translated into real-world breeding innovations, and why its preservation matters now more than ever.