Potato Breeding by Many Hands? Measuring the Germplasm Exchange Based on a Cultivated Potatoes Database

Abstract

In science, collaboration is sometimes understood as synonymous with co‐authorship. However, it also can be measured through the exchange of information and materials. In agriculture, potato late blight is still a challenge to the breeding programs. Accessing different materials, which can be used as sources of resistance, is the key to successful disease control. This article maps the germplasm exchanges carried out by potato breeding in the world as a way to measure collaboration between countries. Cultivars of potato resistant to late blight were selected based on a European database and some countries stood out from others. This was mainly the case of Germany and the Netherlands. Most of the countries have greater links with themselves than with other countries, with reinforces the idea that national breeding programs work more closely within their own country than with other countries. The hegemony of some countries, the prioritization of national research and the high costs of developing a resistant cultivar can be obstacles to greater collaboration.