In 2011, 30,000 disease-free red and white potato plants are expected to produce 1,500 kilograms of breeder seeds. These seeds will go through two more stages before producing 90,000 kilograms of foundation seed ready for sale to farmers.
Malnutrition is an on-going problem for the truly poor. For most families, providing a single meal is the most important job of each day. Finding ways to improve the nutritional value of local crops at an affordable price to the poor is a challenge.
A state-of-the art tissue culture laboratory was opened in 2005 dedicated to finding ways to grow larger, disease-free, nutritious and more productive plants.
The foundation seed produced in 2010 (300 metric tons) is kept in cold storage and sold to Bangladeshi farmers during the winter planting season with 20 metric tons reserved for the poor at one-third the cost.
The production cost of tissue culture seed and other seed is similar, although the amount of potato produced on the same one-third acre of land is 60% higher for the disease-free plants, adding an additional 60% profit for the farmers. Providing healthy food for a healthy future: Provisions of disease-free potato seeds to 5 poor families at one-third the cost $15.00 All inclusive monthly operational cost for the Tissue Culture Laboratory, storage and maintenance $1,650.00
