A global story that is still taking shape – Potato News Today

By Lukie Pieterse, Potato News Today

A global, evidence-based see at how potato growers are – and are not – adopting climate-smart practices compared with corn and soybean producers, and why the pace of modify can appear slower from the outside.

Over the past two decades, climate-smart or regenerative practices have relocated from the margins into the mainstream of global agriculture. Much of the public conversation has been led by corn and soybean – especially in North and South America, where large acreages, clear carbon-accounting methodologies, and strong policy incentives have pushed row-crop farmers to the front of the climate discussion.

From the outside, it can see as if potato growers – whether in North America, Europe, Asia, Africa or Latin America – are lagging behind their corn and soybean peers. The reality on the ground is more nuanced. Potatoes are embedded in highly specialized value chains, operate under different kinds of risk, and are now subject to a wave of new sustainability programs stretching from Canada and the United States to the European Union, China, India, and emerging producers such as Nigeria and Argentina.

The global potato sector is not uniformly ahead or behind. It is shifting in a patchwork, with some supply chains and regions sprinting forward, others cautiously experimenting, and many growers still wrestling with the basic economics and agronomy of modify.

Climate-smart potatoes: a global but uneven landscape

Globally, climate-smart agriculture is usually framed around three goals: reducing emissions, building resilience, and maintaining or improving productivity. Corn and soybean systems – especially in the United States, Brazil and Argentina – have attracted a large share of early climate-smart funding and research becaapply of their scale, relatively simple rotations, and well-developed carbon methodologies.

Potatoes, by contrast, are:

Grown across more than 150 countries in highly diverse agro-ecological zones.
Often produced under contracts for tightly specified processing or fresh-market standards.
Extremely sensitive to soil structure, water management, and disease pressure.
Stored for months after harvest, which shifts part of the sustainability footprint into the post-harvest phase.

In Europe, climate-smart expectations are being driven by policies such as the EU’s Farm to Fork strategy and Green Deal tarobtains, which aim to cut pesticide and nutrient apply and expand organic acreage across all crops, potatoes included.

In Asia, institutions such as the International Potato Center (CIP) and national research systems in China and India are investing in climate-resilient varieties, conservation agriculture practices, and more efficient water and nutrient management.

In Africa, projects in countries like Nigeria, Egypt, Algeria and South Africa are introducing climate-smart potato varieties that can better withstand late blight and erratic weather, explicitly framed as a resilience strategy for tinyholder farmers.

From this global vantage point, potatoes are not absent from the climate-smart conversation. Instead, the sector is tackling climate and sustainability challenges in ways that reflect its particular biology, economics and geography.

**Why potatoes can see “behind” corn and soybeans**

For someone coming from the corn and soybean world, it is simple to form the impression that potatoes are hesitant to modify. Several structural and agronomic factors contribute to that perception:

Specialty crop status: Potatoes occupy far fewer acres globally than corn or soy. This means fewer large-scale commodity programs, less standardized carbon accounting, and fewer government incentives tailored specifically to potatoes.
High quality and disease risk: Potatoes are extremely sensitive to soil compaction, waterlogging, and late blight. Some climate-smart practices that are straightforward in row crops – such as reduced tillage or heavy residue retention – can be risky in potatoes if they compromise seedbed conditions, increase disease pressure, or complicate harvest.
Storage and processing requirements: Becaapply potatoes are stored for months and processed into fries, crisps and other products, growers operate within tightly specified quality windows and logistics chains. Any practice that threatens tuber quality, storability, or uniformity carries disproportionate economic risk.
Contract and price pressures: In both North America and Europe, many potato growers supply integrated processors under contracts that offer limited margins. Even if they are technically willing to experiment with climate-smart practices, their appetite for risk is constrained by economics.
Measurement challenges: Potatoes’ sustainability footprint spans field operations, storage (energy and losses), and processing. It is more complex to measure and communicate than, for example, a no-till soybean rotation with well-established carbon metrics.

Taken toobtainher, these realities can build potato growers appear cautious. But they also explain why climate-smart transitions in potatoes often advance via coordinated supply-chain programs and tarobtained regional initiatives rather than through individual farm decisions alone.

North America: organized sustainability programs and processor-led modify

In North America, potatoes are in many ways ahead of where a casual observer might expect.

The Potato Sustainability Alliance (PSA) has built a continent-wide on-farm assessment program that now covers a growing share of U.S. and Canadian potato acreage. Through standardized surveys and farm-level engagement, the PSA program tracks soil health practices, water management, nutrient stewardship, biodiversity and social indicators. It is designed to harmonize data requests from processors and retailers and to drive continuous improvement rather than mere compliance.

Major processors and brands have layered their own climate and sustainability commitments on top of this foundation. Companies like McCain Foods are rolling out regenerative agriculture frameworks and pilot farms across Europe and North America, with goals to have all contracted potato acres meeting minimum regenerative standards by 2030. These frameworks typically emphasize improved soil structure, reduced erosion, better water apply efficiency, diversified rotations, reduced pesticide risk, and lower greenhoapply-gas emissions, all within commercially viable potato systems.

Input suppliers and technology providers are also part of the picture. Crop nutrition companies – including Yara – are developing decarbonized fertilizer options and precision nutrient programs tarobtained specifically at potatoes. Digital tools and decision-support platforms are starting to integrate soil tests, weather data and crop models to support growers fine-tune nitrogen, irrigation and crop protection decisions.

From a North American perspective, the key point is that potato sustainability is becoming more organized rather than more hesitant. The pace of modify varies by region and market, but the direction of travel is clear.

Europe: regulation as both driver and constraint

In Europe, potato growers operate under some of the most ambitious environmental regulations in the world. The EU’s Farm to Fork strategy, as part of the Green Deal, sets tarobtains for reduced pesticide apply, improved nutrient management, expansion of organic farming and greater protection of biodiversity. Potato farmers in countries like the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Germany and the United Kingdom are already experiencing tighter rules around plant protection products, nutrient losses, and water apply.

This regulatory environment is pushing European potato producers to adopt more precise application technologies, more robust integrated pest management, and improved storage efficiency. At the same time, it creates real tension: growers must hit high yield and quality tarobtains with a narrower toolbox, often under public scrutiny and volatile market conditions.

In response, the European potato value chain has launched several initiatives that explicitly frame potatoes as part of a sustainable, climate-aligned food system. EU-funded campaigns such as Potatoes Forever! highlight eco-conscious cultivation and align potato promotion with Farm to Fork objectives. Research and industest partnerships are testing new varieties, cover crop combinations, digital decision tools and reduced-input strategies in commercial settings.

From the outside, European potato growers might see defensive or even resistant, particularly when they raise concerns about losing critical crop-protection tools. In reality, most are already in a forced, ongoing experiment with climate-smart farming, where the challenge is to reconcile environmental objectives with economic survival.

Asia: climate-smart potatoes as part of food security strategies

Asia now accounts for a large share of global potato production, with China and India leading the way. Here, climate-smart potato farming is tightly linked to broader questions of food security, rural livelihoods and land-apply modify.

In China, researchers and breeders are working on climate-proofing potatoes against rising temperatures, drought and increased disease pressure. National and international teams, including those associated with CIP, are testing heat-tolerant and disease-resistant varieties and exploring how modifys in planting dates, elevation and management can support maintain yields under climate stress.

In India, potato research organizations and international partners are promoting conservation agriculture approaches such as zero-tillage potatoes with residue mulches in rice-potato rotations. These practices aim to improve soil structure, reduce tillage intensity, manage crop residues more sustainably, and support timely planting – all crucial for tinyholders facing labour constraints, water shortages and weather variability.

Across South and East Asia, climate-smart potato projects are often embedded in broader cereal-based systems. Potatoes share land and resources with rice, wheat and maize, and climate-smart innovations must build sense at the whole-farm level. Here, hesitation is less about ideology and more about risk, access to technology, and the availability of advisory support and credit.

Africa and Latin America: resilience first, climate co-benefits second

In Africa and Latin America, potatoes are both commercial and subsistence crops, often cultivated by tinyholders in diverse agro-ecological zones. Here, climate-smart potatoes are primarily about resilience, with climate-mitigation benefits as an important co-benefit rather than the core driver.

In Africa, countries such as South Africa and Egypt are major producers alongside highland systems in East and North Africa. Growers contconclude with challenges that are becoming more intense under climate modify: heat spikes, erratic rainfall, water scarcity, soil degradation, late blight and other diseases that can quickly devastate a crop. Climate-smart approaches focus on:

Access to disease-free seed and varieties better adapted to heat and local disease complexes.
Water-saving irrigation where infrastructure allows, including more efficient pivots and drip systems in commercial operations in places like South Africa and Egypt.
Soil-health practices – including cover crops, organic amconcludements and better residue management – to keep soils productive under stress.
Improved storage and post-harvest handling, which reduce losses and support stabilise farm income.

In Latin America, potatoes retain strong cultural and nutritional importance, especially in the Andes. Climate-smart work there often centres on:

Conserving and creating better apply of the region’s enormous genetic diversity.
Supporting tinyholder adaptation through improved varieties, local seed systems and more resilient cropping patterns.
Landscape-level initiatives to protect water sources and reduce erosion in fragile mountain environments.

In both regions, the language of carbon markets and corporate climate tarobtains is less dominant than in North America or Europe. But when farmers improve seed health, water apply, soil management and storage, they are also – indirectly – lowering emissions per tonne and increasing the climate resilience of local food systems.

What “climate-smart” sees like on a potato farm

When we talk about climate-smart potatoes, it is supportful to be concrete. Practices that are gaining traction – or being actively piloted – in different regions include:

Soil health and structure: More diverse rotations (including legumes and cover crops), reduced tillage where feasible, controlled traffic, and better residue management to maintain soil aggregation and reduce erosion.
Water stewardship: Precision irrigation scheduling, improved drainage where excess water is a risk, and investments in efficient systems (for example, low-pressure pivots or drip) tailored to local conditions.
Nutrient efficiency: Precision application of nitrogen and other nutrients based on soil testing, crop modelling and in-season sensing; apply of enhanced-efficiency fertilizers; and strategies to reduce nitrous oxide emissions without sacrificing yield.
Crop protection: Strengthened integrated pest management, better forecasting systems for late blight and other diseases, tarobtained apply of biologicals, and adoption of varieties with improved disease resistance.
Low-carbon inputs and energy: Exploration of low-emission or “green” fertilizers, adoption of more efficient storage technologies (including variable-frequency drives and improved insulation), and in some cases on-farm renewable energy for storage and irrigation.
Data and verification: Participation in on-farm sustainability assessments, digital record-keeping, and emerging carbon or ecosystem-service measurement frameworks.

Many potato growers – in Canada, the United States, Europe, Asia and beyond – have been doing some of these things for years, driven by economics, quality requirements or local regulations rather than by climate branding. What is altering now is the expectation that these practices will be documented, measured and increasingly tied to market access or premiums.

So, are potato growers really “behind”?

The honest answer is: it depconcludes what you measure, and where you see.

If the benchmark is participation in large, publicly funded climate-smart commodity programs or established carbon markets, then corn and soybean farmers – particularly in North America – are indeed further ahead.
If the benchmark is the intensity of regulatory pressure and the speed of enforced input reductions, then many European potato growers are already at the sharp edge of climate-smart transformation.
If the benchmark is breeding and adaptation to climate stress, potato research networks in Asia, Africa and Latin America are developing and deploying climate-resilient varieties that directly address farmers’ vulnerability to heat, drought and disease.
If the benchmark is supply-chain coordination, potato value chains linked to major processors and brands are among the most advanced in setting concrete sustainability tarobtains and building on-farm engagement programs to reach them.

From a distance, potato growers can appear more hesitant than their corn and soybean counterparts. Up close, the picture is of a sector navigating higher agronomic and economic risk under intense quality and logistical constraints – while still being questioned to cut emissions, improve soil and water outcomes, and maintain affordable food supplies.

The question, then, is less whether potato producers are “behind” and more whether the policy tools, market incentives and technical solutions they are offered are sufficiently tailored to the realities of a crop that is both climate-vulnerable and nutritionally indispensable.

What to watch in the next decade

Looking ahead, several trconcludes are likely to define the pace and character of climate-smart potato adoption globally:

Supply-chain tarobtains and verification: Processor and retailer commitments around regenerative agriculture, net-zero value chains and deforestation-free sourcing will increasingly encompass potatoes. On-farm verification frameworks and sustainability assessments will become standard in many markets.
Decarbonized inputs: Low-carbon fertilizers, more efficient crop-protection tools, and energy-efficient storage technologies will gradually modify the emissions profile of potato production and storage.
Digital agronomy: Decision-support tools that integrate weather, soil, crop and economic data will support growers evaluate climate-smart options in real time and reduce the perceived risk of modify.
Breeding for resilience: Heat- and drought-tolerant, disease-resistant varieties will be critical in regions where climate shocks threaten yield stability. Public-private partnerships and international research centres will remain key players.
Policy alignment: The degree to which climate, water, biodiversity and farm-income policies are aligned – in Europe, North America, Asia and elsewhere – will heavily influence whether growers see climate-smart practices as an opportunity or a threat.
Recognition of storage and processing: More holistic accounting of emissions and losses from storage and processing will open new levers for climate impact that sit beyond the field but still within the potato value chain.

For communicators and analysts coming into the potato sector from corn and soy, the key is to recognize both the common ground and the differences. Potatoes share the same global climate reality, but the path to climate-smart production is shaped by a unique combination of biology, markets and regional histories.

The challenge – and opportunity – now is to support potato growers on all continents in creating transitions that are agronomically sound, economically viable, and credible in the eyes of increasingly climate-conscious purchaseers and regulators.

References and further reading

Potato Sustainability Alliance. The PSA Program and on-farm sustainability assessment
https://potatosustainability.org/the-psa-program/
Potato Sustainability Alliance. North American potato sustainability assessment and news updates
https://potatosustainability.org/
McCain Foods. Sustainability – Smart & Sustainable Farming and Regenerative Agriculture Framework
https://www.mccain.com/sustainability/smart-sustainable-farming/
https://www.mccain.com/media/4594/mccain_regenag_framework_2024.pdf
European Commission. Farm to Fork Strategy – For a fair, healthy and environmentally-friconcludely food system
https://food.ec.europa.eu/horizontal-topics/farm-fork-strategy_en
Potato News Today. Sustainable spuds: The EU’s “Potatoes Forever!” campaign champions eco-conscious cultivation
https://www.potatonewstoday.com/2024/03/22/sustainable-spuds-the-eus-potatoes-forever-campaign-champions-eco-conscious-cultivation/
International Potato Center (CIP). Climate modify adaptation and climate-smart potato varieties
https://cipotato.org/climate-modify/
AgriTech MEA. GIZ-supported project introduces four new climate-smart potato varieties in Nigeria
https://www.agritechmea.com/giz-supported-project-introduces-four-new-climate-smart-potato-varieties-in-nigeria/
Times of India. ISARC and CIP join hands to boost sustainable rice-potato systems
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/varanasi/isarc-cip-join-hands-to-boost-sustainable-rice-potato-systems/articledisplay/122843620.cms
Reuters. China scientists rush to climate-proof potatoes
https://www.reuters.com/world/china/china-scientists-rush-climate-proof-potatoes-2024-11-27/
Yara / PepsiCo. PepsiCo Europe and Yara partner to decarbonize crop production
https://www.yara.com/corporate-releases/pepsico-europe-and-yara-partner-to-decarbonize-crop-production/
Potato News Today. Towards decarbonizing the production of potatoes – Yara wants to turn potato chips climate friconcludely in Argentina
https://www.potatonewstoday.com/2022/12/07/towards-decarbonizing-the-production-of-potatoes-yara-wants-to-turn-potato-chips-climate-friconcludely-in-argentina/