ST PAUL, Minn.—Understanding the physiology of seed potato aging and how it affects crop growth and yield can be vital to the industry. Such knowledge will allow growers to adopt management practices that control the aging process and optimize tuber set and size distribution.
 

In the latest Focus on Potato presentation, titled “Aging of Seed Potatoes: Physiological Process and Consequences for Production,” Dr. Richard Knowles, a crop science professor at Washington State University, helps users identify production, postharvest handling and storage factors that influence the physiological age and productivity of seed potatoes.

The presentation covers:

*The effects of seed age on plant growth and development;

*The utilization of key age-induced growth responses as indicators of relative seed lot age;

*The sensitivity of cultivars to environmental conditions that accelerate aging.

 By the end of this presentation, growers, consultants, and other practitioners should have a solid understanding of the physiological basis of seed potato aging and its consequences for production. This 52-minute presentation is open access through Feb. 28.

The Bacterial ring rot presentation reopened. Due to a recent outbreak, Focus on Potato has made its Bacterial Ring Rot presentation open access through Jan. 1, 2013. This 36-minute presentation, authored by Dr. Neil Gudmestad, Distinguished Professor of Plant Pathology at North Dakota State University, addresses the identification and management of this economically important disease. His presentation focuses on the symptoms of bacterial ring rot, detection methods, and disease management strategies.

Visit the Focus on Potato homepage for other potato management presentations.