The Canadian company Penn Biotech Inc. will ship 1.3 million pounds of bioengineered seed potatoes to China to meet increased demand for french fries and other potato products.


The company holds the patent to new technology that grows potato seed vertically rather than horizontally, saving space and increasing the potato yield.


Penn Biotech says its seed potato could cut China’s potato growing cycle from three years to two and help satisfy the appetite of the world’s largest potato market. It expects to generate its first revenues in 2005, once the seed potatoes planted in three sites in China are deemed suitable for consumption.