One man records data, while a couple of kids look on. Schools like this help knit agricultural researchers to the real needs of farmers. All photos this page courtesy Rebecca Nelson, International Potato Center Using simple symbols, a farmer records data from a field trial. For a low price, researchers can get a wealth of real-world data. In the field Potatoes are much more than just french fries or fish 'n chips.
Potatoes are a major source of food for the world.
Sudden death Blight spores are invisible, and late blight kills quickly, so farmers need advance knowledge if they want a chance of making quick decisions that might save their crops after blight strikes. The basic tenet is germ theory. If someone told you washing your hands would magically cure the problem, you might or might not do it. By providing mini-microscopes and designing a set of activities that reveals the wonders of the microbial world and its causes and effects, they get the message better than if we just explain. With plant-killing germs, knowing the enemy is the first step toward a cure.