Protecting your crop: Handling potato seed

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.

Key topics covered include:

• Start with quality: Why healthy seed is the foundation of high yield, quality, and disease resistance.

• Choose certified seed: The benefits of certified seed for varietal purity and biosecurity.

• Store seed properly: How to maintain the right conditions for seed storage.

• Cure cut seed: Tips for effective suberisation to reduce disease risk.

• Manage seed age: Understand the impact of physiological age on crop performance.

• Grade and clean: The importance of hygiene in preventing the spread of pests and diseases.

• Handle with care: How to minimise damage to cut and whole seed.

• Manage the supply chain: Seed quality depends on good practices at every step—from harvest to planting.