Solanum ajanhuiri: An important diploid potato cultivated in the andean altiplano

Abstract

A field study has shown that the primitive frost-resistant species Solanum ajanhuiri comprises more intra-specific variability than previously reported. A new group of 5 cultivars of S. ajanhuiri known under the Aymará name of Yari was found. This group is different from that of the type description known as Ajawiri. The area of cultivation of S. ajanhuiri appears to be the smallest of all the South American cultivated potato species. It is endemic to a restricted area of the altiplano region of the Andes and is extensively cultivated only in the Bolivian altiplano between 16°30'–18°45'S latitude and 67°30'–69°W longitude and at altitudes of 3,800–,100 m. It is also sparsely cultivated around Lake Titicaca in Bolivia and Peru. Some evidence shows that S. ajanhuiri played an important role in the survival of the Aymará Indians in whose area it is grown. The plants are frost-resistant and mature early; the tubers are generally floury and tasty, and under proper conditions can be stored for long periods.