It has become a tradition that the section Potatoes of the European Association for Research on Plant Breeding, EUCARPIA, and the section Breeding and Varietal Assessment of the European Association for Potato Research, EAPR, hold their section meetings simultaneously, thereby benefiting mutually from the experience of experts from both Associations.

The present proceedings ‘The Production of New Potato Varieties Technological Advances’, constitute however the very first publication in extenso of papers presented at joint meetings of the sections.

The book contains, among other items, papers presented at the meeting held at Cambridge, England, between December 16th – 20th, 1985, under the main theme ‘The development and Identification of Superior Potato Genotypes – limitations and Prospects for the Future’. It is a coherent publication, offering non-participants as well as participants in the section meetings a presentation of such important aspects as the current strategies employed in the breeding of new potato varieties, the achievements to date, and future prospects for varietal improvements.

The European Association for Research on Plant Breeding and the European Association for Potato Research welcome this initiative on the part of the sections, and hope that readers of the book will give it the appreciation it deserves.