Seed Cutting
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.
As every vegetable grower understands, all good crops start with good seed, and potatoes are no exception. However, potato tubers, unlike many other seeds, need considerable care and attention to optimise results. This PotatoLink magazine special feature covers seed age, diseases, storage, cutting, treatment, and certification.
Seed Quality
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.
As every vegetable grower understands, all good crops start with good seed, and potatoes are no exception. However, potato tubers, unlike many other seeds, need considerable care and attention to optimise results. This PotatoLink magazine special feature covers seed age, diseases, storage, cutting, treatment, and certification.
In this second soil biology masterclass, Dr. Calum Wilson explains about the good, the bad and ugly ones in the soil and how they interact, and what you can do to keep them in balance to protect your potato crop.
Albert Schirring covers the role of biologicals in soil health and the opportunities in enhancing crop productivity in potatoes.
Dom Cavallaro (Stoller), Ian Simpson (Mitolo), Nigel Crump (AuSPICA) and Peter Philp (PotatoLink) discuss seed management, quality and timing of supply and how quality seed is the foundation of profitable potato production.
Seed Storage
As every vegetable grower understands, all good crops start with good seed, and potatoes are no exception. However, potato tubers, unlike many other seeds, need considerable care and attention to optimise results. This PotatoLink magazine special feature covers seed age, diseases, storage, cutting, treatment, and certification.
On the 2nd of February 2023, PotatoLink hosted a workshop In Ballarat. Weeds, disease, seed and storage were all covered in these presentations.
Managing the storage environment to optimise seed performance at planting is a complex process that requires thought and planning.
Dr Jenny Ekman from Applied Horticultural Research (AHR), Maarten van Delden from Tolsma Australia and Dr Nigel Crump from the Australian Seed Potato Industry Certification Authority (AuSPICA) talk about the importance of correct seed potato storage, optimal storage processes and conditions and management of physiological age.
This 2004 Best Practice guide for handling and storing seed potatoes includes information and checklists as well as reference information on critical times and temperatures and a troubleshooting guide.
Seed Age
As every vegetable grower understands, all good crops start with good seed, and potatoes are no exception. However, potato tubers, unlike many other seeds, need considerable care and attention to optimise results. This PotatoLink magazine special feature covers seed age, diseases, storage, cutting, treatment, and certification.
On the 2nd of February 2023, PotatoLink hosted a workshop In Ballarat. Weeds, disease, seed and storage were all covered in these presentations.
Managing the storage environment to optimise seed performance at planting is a complex process that requires thought and planning.
Varieties
Frank Mulcahy explains during his interview with ABC Radio - Tasmanian Country Hour, that the parameters under which the varieties were chosen in the 1980s may be different to the parameters under which they are chosen now.
This Hort Innovation report covers the efforts made to maintain a large bank of different potato varieties, and what they are good for. Specific focus was made on viral resistance, disease resistance, specific gravity and various cooking factors. Potatoes from Europe to America are included in this potato bank.
This Hort Innovation report explores the genetics behind breeding new varieties of potatoes. The report looks into developing genetic analysis tools to improve cultivar selection and development. With a focus on improving resistance to potato cyst nematodes and potato virus Y this 2012 paper provides great insight into how new cultivars are chosen.
Between 1995-2001 specific gravity of potatoes from Koo Wee Rup declined substantially. Possible causes of specific gravity loss were explored in this report. Cultivars, crop production management and climate conditions were all investigated.
Seed Certification
Certified seed potatoes underpin the potato industry. In 2017 a comprehensive review of existing documents, industry consultation and feedback was used to review and update the Australian National Standard.
This Hort Innovation report presents different options that could be taken to develop a national framework to guide seed potato certification.