Biological products, or biologicals, are a diverse group of agricultural inputs derived from living organisms such as plants, insects, microbes, or fungi. In potato production, these products can be used alongside conventional management practices for a variety of purposes such as improving nutrient efficiency and pest and disease management.

Maintaining proper seed hygiene is one of the simplest and most effective ways to protect your potato crop from pests and diseases. This factsheet outlines essential practices to keep your seed clean, healthy, and ready for planting.

Good crops start with great seed. This factsheet outlines best practices for handling seed potatoes — from selection to planting — to help you get the most out of your crop.

Knowing what disease you are dealing with is the first step to managing it. This fact sheet discusses what the important things are to look for, when the best time for testing is, and where to send it.

Cutting seed potatoes involves four steps: (1) warming seed before cutting, (2) cutting seed potatoes to seed pieces, (3) curing seed pieces, and (4) cooling seed pieces down to a holding temperature. Get a copy of the visual shed poster to assist with best practice and important considerations when cutting seed.

This guide summarises and provides easy access to resources developed by the PotatoLink project.

A healthy soil is full of life. All organisms have a role to play in maintaining a healthy and productive soil. This factsheet covers the benefits of soil biology, harmful microbiota, and how to improve soil biology.

A potato crop is only as good as the seed. Follow this checklist to ensure the quality and integrity of the valuable seed potatoes being purchased. Though it requires extra effort, it’s crucial for successful planting and crop production, ensuring your investment pays off.

The correct interpretation of the report, is vital to ensure fertiliser applications are adequate to supply crop requirements. This factsheet covers important considerations while soil sampling and testing, the common parameters tested and which nutrients can be reported.

Knowing what your plants need and when is crucial to getting the most out of your crop. This factsheet covers the importance of soil tests, in-season tissue testing, how nutrients interact with each other and fertiliser application methods.

Ensuring plants get the right amount of water when they need it is essential to produce a great crop. In this factsheet, Dr Jenny Ekman covers water stress, waterlogging and how to make sure your potatoes are getting the right amount of water.

Blackleg is a bacterial infection of potato tubers and stems. While the disease is not widespread in Australia, new causal organisms have been identified over the past few years, warranting industry awareness.

Bruises develop due to impacts that either break the cells apart (shatter bruise) or rupture the cell membranes (blackspot). The risk of bruises can be reduced. This factsheet covers factors influencing potato bruising and how to manage them.

Late Blight, also known as Irish Blight is caused by the fungal-like organism Phytophthora infestans, which can exist as two mating types, A1 and A2, each with numerous strains that have developed over time. Learn more about the disease, conditions conducive to its spread and management options.

Managing the storage environment to optimise seed performance at planting is a complex process that requires thought and planning.

Black dot is a fungal disease caused by Colletotrichum coccodes. Once considered a minor pathogen, recently there have been significant yield losses and reduced quality. Read this factsheet to know what to look for, how it spreads, and what you can do about it.

Pink rot is an important soil-borne disease caused by Phytophthora erythroseptica. It can cause rots at all parts of the growing cycle. Read this factsheet to know what to look for, how it spreads, and what you can do about it.

While tuber moth can be a serious pest of potatoes, it can also be effectively controlled using agronomic practices and biological controls. This new factsheet by Dr Paul Horne describes how growers can continue to manage this pest with minimal chemicals.

This fact sheet provides guidance on the importance of monitoring soil-borne diseases, including tips for understanding and managing soil-borne disease risks.

Soil health is closely linked to soil microbiology. This fact sheet outlines information on a broad group of soil microbes including fungi, bacteria and pseudomonas, and explains how different levels, numbers and ratios of these microbes can impact the overall health of your soil and crops.

This guide produced by RMCG in 2020 was based on current knowledge on management of powdery scab, highlighting key factors that affect the risks of this disease and opportunities for effective disease management.

With a growing interest in the area of soil health and the wide range of products available, this fact sheet explores organic soil amendments, biologicals and biostimulants to help growers understand what these products are and how they work.

Explore the impact of hydrophobic soils on potato production and options for growers to assist with their management to improve potato yields.

‘Know your salts’ takes an in-depth look at salinity and the salts that affect both plant health and soil structure, and guide potato nutrition.

This first fact sheet outlines the causes of salinity followed by key assessments and tests that will better inform your management decisions.

Find out more about good salinity management practices on farm, salinity thresholds for vegetables, how salinity can be identified and measured, as well as appropriate EC ranges for soils and water. 

In this video, Tasmanian grower James Addison discusses the value of cover cropping in maintaining soil health and increasing productivity in potato production.