4-5 IAN Potato Seed Import

 "The use of certified seeds can prevent and probably has prevented the introduction of several plant diseases into Idaho," said Celia Gould, director of the Idaho State Department of Agriculture (ISDA).  The first decision a farmer should make every planting season is the choice of seed, where it was grown and its certified status.

 Several economic crops grown in Idaho are affected by seed borne diseases;  bacterial ring rot of potato, and Bureau Chief Michael Cooper comments: “Potato  seed in particular is known to carry a lot of bacteria and virus diseases from PV YN to Mosaic to bacterial ring rot and the Idaho crop Improvement Association is the group in Idaho that certifies seed potatoes. They have crews that go out and inspect seed potato operations to make sure that they meet minimum standards for disease and quality in terms of varietal purity’s. In planning these kinds of things you avoid a lot of the disease problems that can show up and quality problems that harvest. The longer potatoes are propagated in the field from one generation to the next the longer you go through that the more potential there is for disease to build up in the potato itself.