New Potato Institute Bringing in Dollars for Research, Product Marketing
by Kathy Barnard, CAHNRS Marketing & News Services
Before 2005, administering and marketing potato varieties developed in Washington, Oregon and Idaho was primarily the purview of research universities in each of those states. Today, a new organization charged with those tasks -- the Potato Variety Management Institute -- is turning new varieties into cash to further the regional industry’s research and marketing goals.
“It’s starting to pay off,” said Jeanne Debons, PVMI executive director. She was a featured speaker at the WSU Potato Field Day in Othello June 26.
Potato commissions in the three states launched PVMI in 2005. The non-profit corporation is housed in Bend, Ore., and provides a grower-controlled alternative to the universities’ efforts to manage varieties and interact with processors and end users.
“Each new potato variety takes from 13 to 15 years from the first cross to being released,” Debons said. “That is a lot of investment on the part of our three states. And if they’re not protected, anyone in the world could use them for free.”
Today, growers in the three states involved pay $250 a year to license the new potato varieties they grow. Other U.S. growers pay $500, and growers outside the United States pay $1,000 a year. In addition, growers pay annual royalties when they sell seed of PVMI varieties.
Since 2005, PVMI has collected more than $200,000 in licensing fees and $225,000 in royalties. “The royalties is where the big money will eventually come in,” Debons said. She noted that almost two-thirds of the new revenue is being generated outside of Washington, Idaho and Oregon.
Funds generated by the license fees and royalties will be returned to the potato breeding programs to help fund a variety of research projects for the industry at universities in the three states.
“Potato breeding programs at the universities in all three states are in dire straits because of budget cuts and the economy,” Debons said. “The infrastructure is now in place to administer the new varieties to help fund the research our industry needs.”
This article originally appeared in the July 1, 2009 edition of On Solid Ground.
