OTHELLO – Under the hot skies of central Washington, rows and rows of potatoes are being grown for research in search of the next tasty variety that could end up on the grocery shelf.
Horticulturist Mark Pavek said the thousands of potato seed pieces are hand cut to give the best control over the size and growth of the test plots. The research also is aimed at developing potato varieties that use fewer inputs, such as pesticides and water, thus reducing costs to farmers and stress to the environment.