Preface

It is estimated that the world population will increase to 11 billion and cultivated agricultural land per capita will decrease to 0.15 hectares in 2050. Every year parallel to the increasing population, agricultural fields are shrinking fast due to reasons such as misuse (settlement, road, factory, etc.), erosion, salinization, acidification, intensive agriculture, and overgrazing.

Every year, thousands of people in many parts of the world die due to malnutrition and hunger. For humankind to maintain its existence on earth, crop production needs to be increased. This can only be achieved by increasing the yield obtained per unit area. To achieve this, the genetic structure of plants should be improved and the agricultural techniques used in cultivation such as fertilization, irrigation, disease, and pest control should be applied. However, it has been observed that unconscious use of agricultural techniques adversely affects ecological balance in the long term.

Potato (*Solanum tuberosum* L.) is an annual plant in the Solanaceae family. It is reported that potato is the most consumed nutrition after cereals. In addition, it is the most produced plant in the world after maize, wheat, and rice. Among the reasons for such widespread consumption are its widespread production and consumption by almost all countries of the world due to it being cheap and easy to digest, as well as its high nutritional value and ability to grow in all kinds of climates allowing for obtaining more products per unit area. Considering that a significant number of people in the world are struggling with hunger, the importance of the potato plant is better understood. From this point of view, potato is one of the most important plants that can solve hunger and nutrition problems worldwide with their rich nutrient content. This book discusses these topics from all aspects. We hope this book will guide growers and researchers in solving problems in potato cultivation.

#### **Dr. Mustafa Yildiz**

Professor, Faculty of Agriculture, Department of Field Crops, Ankara University, Ankara, Turkey

> **Yasin Ozgen** Faculty of Agriculture,

Ankara University, Turkey

Section 1 Potato Cultivation

#### **Chapter 1**
