SynTech California team crop variety testing contributes to defence against climate change

Potato growers worldwide need new varieties of potatoes tolerant to heat and water stress which threatens agricultural production. The Bioefficacy team at the California Technical Center, Reedley, CA, is testing over 300 potato lines this year for breeding aspects including heat tolerance and water use efficiency.

Dr. Parsa Tehranchian, SynTech’s global leader of the Screening and Resistance Testing program said, “These trials are drip irrigated, monitored using remotely controlled water use efficiency sensors – and by frequent UAV flights for both sensing and assessments during the season.”

SynTech USA was selected to conduct these trials, later than normal planting time, on sandy clay loam in the Central Valley of California, where hot summers maximize the abiotic stresses required for such testing.