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Horticultural Science
Sweetpotato and Potato Breeding and Genetics Programs

Potatoes

Craig Yencho with Bernard Yada at sweetpotato research farm

May 22, 2024

Dr. Craig Yencho receives 2024 O. Max Gardner Award

Dr. Craig Yencho, an NC State University professor whose research has influenced sweetpotato cultivation across the world, has been named the recipient of the 2024 Oliver Max Gardner Award.
Craig Yencho and Mercy Kitavi work with sweet potato samples in a lab in Nairobi, Kenya.

Dec 12, 2023

A Patented Winner

The National Academy of Inventors named NC State University’s Craig Yencho a 2023 fellow for his contributions to improved sweetpotato and potato breeding and genetics, with an impact reaching from North Carolina to Sub-Saharan Africa.
Sweetpotato Team showing Wolfpack hands

Oct 25, 2022

Craig Yencho and Ken Pecota Receive Innovator of the Year Award

Dr. Craig Yencho and Ken Pecota of the Sweetpotato Breeding and Genetics Programs were both honored with the Innovator of the Year

Nov 19, 2015

Study Provides More Evidence Irish Potato Famine-Causing Pathogen Originated in South America

NC State spud sleuth Jean Ristaino finds more evidence that the pathogen responsible for Ireland’s potato famine in the 1840s originated in South America.