June 8, 2026
Biofortified potato varieties developed by CIP and partners are entering Peru’s seed systems, creating a pathway to reduce iron deficiency in the Andes.
Key result story taken from our 2025 annual technical report.
Iron-rich biofortified potato varieties developed by the International Potato Center’s (CIP’s) breeding program are transitioning from research to large-scale deployment in Peru. In 2025, CIP and partners installed demonstration plots and delivered 50,000 in vitro plants of two iron-rich potato varieties to the National Institute of Agricultural Innovation (INIA). These plants will generate approximately 1,500 metric tons of certified seed, enough to plant approximately 1,000 hectares and reach more than 32,000 farming families, marking a major milestone in the effort to use crop improvement to reduce anemia in high-Andean communities.
In Peru, around 30 percent of women and over 40 percent of children under five suffer from iron deficiency anemia, a major public health problem, especially for rural Andean areas. As potatoes are the country’s most widely consumed staple crop, they provide a unique opportunity to deliver essential micronutrients through crop improvement.
Scientists at the International Potato Center (CIP) began addressing this challenge more than two decades ago by identifying potato varieties naturally rich in iron and combining them with traits farmers value, such as high yield, adaptation to high altitudes, good culinary quality, and resistance to major diseases, such as late blight. Hundreds of native varieties were screened for micronutrient concentration, and promising parents were selected for breeding. Breeders created more than 13,000 new potato candidates and selected hundreds of the most promising ones.
This work followed CGIAR Breeding for Tomorrow’s approach, which helps breeding teams design better varieties by combining market insights, farmer preferences, and a standardized breeding stage-plan to guide decisions from early crosses to final product development.
These candidates were tested across 26 locations in the Peruvian highlands between 2018 and 2021. Several performed consistently well, with higher nutritional value and good adaptation to smallholder farming systems.
Farmers played a central role through participatory variety selection conducted with Peru’s National Institute of Agricultural Innovation (INIA), national universities, non-governmental organizations, and other local partners. Over 1,600 of them selected promising clones at key crop stages, ensuring that the final varieties met both nutritional needs and their livelihood priorities. This effort produced two biofortified potato varieties: CIP-Kallpa Yawri and CIP-Puka Yawri. Both varieties were registered in Peru in 2025. Both combine higher iron levels with strong performance at high altitudes — between 2,600 and 4,200 meters above sea level — and can yield over 20 metric tons per hectare, significantly higher than the 8 metric tons typically obtained with traditional varieties.
Nutrition research has provided critical evidence that these improvements could translate into health benefits. Studies in Peru show that iron from potatoes is highly bioavailable — easy for the body to absorb. They also found that iron-rich biofortified potatoes can significantly increase the total amount of iron absorbed by consumers compared with regular potatoes.
A major milestone toward scaling was reached in 2025 when CIP and INIA expanded efforts to multiply planting material of the biofortified varieties. CIP produced and delivered 50,000 in vitro plants of CIP-Kallpa Yawri and CIP-Puka Yawri. These plants are expected to generate around 1,500 tons of certified seed, sufficient to plant approximately 1,000 hectares in the coming seasons and reach more than 32,000 farmers’ families.
CIP and partners, including INIA, the Universidad Nacional de Huancavelica, and the farmer organization Grupo Yanapai, are now strengthening the seed system and farmer engagement needed for adoption. They are implementing demonstration fields across several locations in Huancavelica and Junín, allowing farmers, universities, and public institutions to see the benefits of the new varieties and support their adoption in local farming systems.
Farmer training and outreach to promote the biofortified varieties are underway, supported by the Secretaría Técnica de Coordinación (STC-CGIAR), which channels Peruvian public funding to CGIAR and international agricultural research and technology transfer initiatives.
Seed multiplication activities are also happening in Huancayo and Huánuco, where seeds are being produced to support future certified seed production.
These seed multiplication and dissemination efforts are supported by Breeding for Tomorrow, helping ensure that improved varieties are not only developed, but also reach farmers at scale.
Together, these activities connect CGIAR crop improvement research with practical seed system development and farmer learning, ensuring that biofortified varieties move beyond research stations into farmers’ fields and local food systems. As seed multiplication progresses and adoption expands, iron-rich biofortified potatoes have the potential to improve diets, strengthen resilient potato production systems, and support the livelihoods of smallholder farmers across the Andes and impoverished urban environments, where vulnerable populations experience malnutrition that threatens their future potential.
This milestone represents decades of research, from identifying nutrient-rich germplasm to building a seed system capable of delivering biofortified potatoes to farmers and consumers.
Hannele Lindqvist-Kreuze, Head of crop improvement, CIP Contributing Centers: International Potato Center (CIP).
Contributing external partners: Instituto Nacional de Innovación Agraria (INIA); Universidad Nacional de Huancavelica; Grupo Yanapai; Secretaria Tecnica de Coordinacion (STC-CGIAR).
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