A potato’s best defence is its hair, according to researchers at the
International Potato Institute in Lima, Peru. The centre is testing a new
variety of ‘hairy potato’ that fends off aphids, moths and the Colorado
beetle.
The hairs are tipped by tiny sacs filled with a substance that sticks
to any insect that alights on the leaf. Small insects stick to the leaf
and starve; larger ones that ingest the ‘glue’ develop severe constipation.
Researchers at Cornell University in New York have crossed wild varieties
of hairy potatoes with commercial high-yielding varieties. The hybrids are
being tested in Asia, Africa and the Middle East.
