Leading potato breeder George MacKay has been presented with the British Potato Industry Award at this week’s Potato Council at Crieff.
Potato Council chairman Fiona Fell said: “It is an honour to present this award to George. He has made a remarkable long-term contribution to the science underpinning the potato industry, leading European potato genetics and breeding teams over more than 25 years.
“During his career he has overseen the introduction of new forms of scientific research and, despite sometimes challenging times, has maintained a constant, strong industry focus.
“He has collaborated with a wide range of eminent international scientists in the public and private sector whilst supervising many research students.”
Beginning with a BSc from Newcastle University in agricultural botany and plant science and an MSc in applied genetics from Birmingham University, Mr MacKay was appointed to the research staff of the Scottish Plant Breeding Station (SPBS) at Pentlandfield near Edinburgh in 1967.
He became head of the potato breeding research unit in the early 1980s, also carrying out pioneering research on forage brassicas.
During his period at SPBS as head of the Commercial Breeding Department, and after the merger of the Scottish Plant Breeding Station and the Scottish Horticultural Research Institute into SCRI at Dundee (now the James Hutton Institute), he was involved in the selection and submission of more than 40 potato varieties to the national list, notably Lady Balfour, Stirling and Mayan Gold.
The institutional merger and transfer of SCRI staff to Invergowrie coincided with Government withdrawal of funding from all near-market research.
With public-sector funding directed towards more basic research, Mr MacKay was involved in forming interactions with a new set of commercial partners through the newly-created commercial subsidiary Mylnefield Research Services Ltd.
He sustained a constant stream of publications, co-authoring more than 50 published scientific papers and presentations, and co-editing the 1994 book Potato Genetics.
In overseeing the regeneration and expansion of the valuable virus-free Commonwealth Potato Collection he ensured that valuable germplasm essential for breeding programmes would be available for science, and was responsible for the UK’s contribution to the inventories of European potato collections.
In addition to a substantial research publication record, he melded several disciplines to address in a practical way the complexities of the potato genome, influencing parallel programmes around the world, including that of the International Potato Centre in Peru.
Mr Mackay was an honorary lecturer at St Andrews and Dundee universities, and he was a member of the British Association of Plant Breeders, the EU Workshop on the Conservation of Old Potato Varieties, and of the editorial board of Heredity.
He was awarded an MBE for his contribution to plant breeding.