Seed Potato Projects
The Seed Potato Hygiene Initiative
CAFRE and AFBI work together with the seed potato sector to improve the marketability of Northern Ireland Seed potatoes.
The Seed Potato Hygiene Initiative aims to improve the visual standards and marketability of Northern Ireland certified seed potatoes. Growers and seed potato store keepers must be capable of recognising key skin blemishing diseases and adopting best practice to eliminate sources of tuber disease contamination in their seed potato stores.
Key objectives of the seed potato hygiene initiative:
- Provide seed growers with the technical skills to improve the hygiene of their seed potato stores and the management of high health seed stocks within on- farm stores.
- Participants will understand the physiology of major skin blemishing diseases and the method of disease spread within store.
- Participants will also become aware of seed potato store cleaning protocols and materials and implement best practice through undertaking a thorough cleaning of their own seed potato store and store equipment.
- Participants will also be able to select, wash and identify from a 50 tuber sample of their own seed potato stocks the presence of any of the five major skin blemishing diseases.
To meet the above objectives a training session in the form of an interactive workshop was planned and delivered. Each course was split into three workshops
Disease recognition
Samples of washed and unwashed seed tubers from a number of seed stocks and varieties were made available for growers to assess and discuss the consequences on yield and quality of planting each stock.
Disease physiology and control
A booklet ‘Managing tuber blemishing diseases and store hygiene(PDF 973KB)' detailing the underpinning knowledge on how to identity skin blemishing diseases, disease physiology, methods of disease spread, control and action points on each disease was produced and distributed to all growers at the workshops
Store hygiene
The critical importance of good store hygiene was discussed with growers, the need for good hygiene, best practice and a demonstration of how to vacuum clean the potato store to remove dust and approved disinfectants
Outcome
The course was delivered during June and July 2007 in Hilltown, Kilkeel, Bushmills and at Greenmount Campus in Antrim. Around 90 participants attended the course, 60 of which registered and participated in the initiative
Stephen Bell and Roy Copeland help seed growers in Hilltown to identify tuber blemishing diseases and discuss the impact of diseases on their farm business.