New WPC Webinar 4/25: Potato Seed Handling

Potatoes on conveyor

The World Potato Congress (WPC) will have the third installment of their webinar series this Thursday, April 25 at 9 am EST.

Dr. Gary Secor will present “Best Management Practices for Seed Potato Handling from Storage to Planting”.

Dr. Secor is a Professor in the Department of Plant Pathology at North Dakota State University in Fargo, North Dakota. He received his Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees from Montana State University, and his PhD from the University of California-Davis. He has worked with numerous potato diseases, concentrating in recent years on new disease discovery, potato late blight, zebra chip, fungicide resistance management in pathogens of potatoes and sugar beet, seed treatment, variety development, Fusarium diseases, bacterial soft rot, blemish diseases and post-harvest diseases.

The presentation will be live. The purpose of this webinar is to provide best management practices for selection and handling of seed potatoes from storage to planting to maximize seed potato performance in the field for quality and yield. This presentation will discuss factors affecting seed potato growth, how to select quality seed potatoes, and the importance of proper handling of seed potatoes during loading, transport, unloading and pre-plant storage. It will also discuss preparation of seed for planting, whether to use whole seed or cut seed, seed cutting and considerations for using of dust and liquid seed treatments. Descriptions of important early season diseases will be presented with suggestions for management by cultural and fungicide practices. This webinar will be valuable to seed growers, but it will be particularly valuable to anyone who buys and plants seed potatoes.

The host for the WPC webinar series will be WPC Director, Dr. Nora Olsen (norao@uidaho.edu).

Interested participants can register and will be able to interact with the presenters of the webinar. To register for this webinar click on the following link:
https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_m2OyZ_UIShGmOEdFWZU-aA. Following your registration, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about how to join the webinar.

The webinar will be recorded and available on the WPC website until December 31, 2019.

www.potatocongress.org