Probably not a good idea then to bring a plant which is native to the higher elevations of the Andes, and which is highly susceptible to fungi, to an island where it rains nearly every day and then become 100% dependent upon it as a foodstuff.
If the potato hadn’t come to Europe the subsequent development wouldn’t have been possible because the population couldn’t have been supported by the cultivation of grains alone.
The Irish used cuttings and grew a very narrow range of potato types. The Andean Indians grew >2500 types and used seeds.
Ireland could have never supported the population it had with any other crop. My ancestors would have then had to leave much earlier.
Just finished listening to a book on this subject, among others.
The problem was made much worse by propagating the potato by planting eyes rather than seed. This means the plants are basically clones.
Since the Irish potatoes were pretty much all descended from a very few plants brought over a couple centuries earlier, you had an entire island planted with a monoculture of almost genetically identical plants. No resistance whatsoever.
The Irish were forced to depend on potatoes as a sole source of nutrition because the people who had taken over their lands demanded the rest of the crops they raised.