Potato Review

POTATO REVIEW SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2020 5 NEWS JAMES Hutton Institute plant scientists have discovered that a specific protein encoded by the potato genome is a key component of tuberisation, the process by which the potato plant initiates and develops tubers. This discovery could be a key factor in increasing productivity, particularly in parts of the world where climate change is occurring and plant stress limits uptake. The research findings have been unveiled in the latest issue of The Plant Journal, funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), the European Union’s Horizon 2020 programme and the Scottish Government’s RESAS Strategic Research Programme. It is hoped that the genetic discovery will enable potato breeders to develop fast-maturing, more resilient potato varieties that will safeguard production during climate change. Dr Mark Taylor, who jointly heads up the Institute’s Potato Genetics and Physiology Group in Dundee was lead author of the study. He said the earliness of tuberisation dictates the time to crop maturity. “For years, potato breeders have exploited the natural variation in the onset of tuberisation to develop improved varieties for dierent latitudes, harvest times and markets where the eects of environmental and disease stresses are minimised,” he said. “Understanding the mechanism of tuber initiation in potato provides a new strategy to increase yields of a crop that is absolutely pivotal for global food security.” The PCN Grower Guide can be downloaded or ordered as a hard copy from the website at ahdb.org.uk/ knowledge-library/PCN. A NEW tool from Syngenta to give potato growers and agronomists a clear picture of impending blight pressure and risks in time to make active application decisions is now up and running. Recognising the risk posed by more aggressive blight genotypes, BlightCast focusses the Hutton Criteria as the factors for five-day forecasts. Syngenta Potato Specialist Rob Farrow said experience of previous seasons at the Eurofins trials site in Derbyshire had demonstrated the eectiveness of new Hutton Criteria in forewarning blight outbreaks. It is believed to better reflect weather conditions where new strains of blight can actively develop, by reducing the period of relative humidity at 90% or above down to six hours, from an 11-hour period used to trigger a Smith Period. “BlightCast showed the first Hutton Criteria hits for the site were on August 16th, but no Smith Periods were triggered until August 24th,” he said. “In that time the visual assessment of blight inoculated trials went from virtually nothing detectable to widespread infection.” RESTRAIN has launched its first on- line training for the Restrain ethylene application system and equipment for potato storage. The training is split into five modules, with short Restrain videos to watch and questions to answer. The training will take around 30mins to complete, with a personal Restrain Certificate awarded upon completion. THE dried potato flake market is expected to witness high growth over the forecast period 2020 – 2026, according to the recently-published Dried Potato Flake Market Report, which oers key insights and findings, arrived at after analysing all sections of this business sector. Rob Farrow Blight BlightCast 2020 vision provides early warnings Research discovery could provide strategy to increased yields Dried potato outlook Training on ethylene