|
More information
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
Potatoes
|
Thursday, October 16, 2008
|
|
Many new potato varieties are bred each year but, in order to be eligible for marketing as seed potatoes, a variety must undergo 2 years of official trialling before it can be accepted on to the National List of an EU Member State and then automatically on to the Common Catalogue which is a compilation of EU National Lists. A guide to UK National Listing of Varieties may be obtained from the Plant Variety Rights Office (www.defra.gov.uk/planth/pvs ).
|
National List trialling involves testing for Distinctness, Uniformity and Stability ( DUS ) and Value for Cultivation and Use ( VCU ). The emphasis for potato VCU is on resistance to diseases and defects important in potato production in the UK. SASA is the main centre for official potato variety testing in the UK, being responsible for DUS testing as well as the VCU testing in conjunction with NIAB.
SASA conducts disease, pest and defect tests described in more detail on the Disease Testing page. The current protocols and procedures governing UK National List Trials are maintained by Defra.
The tests for NL Trials can be modified to meet the requirements of commercial customers.
Brief summaries of the results for new varieties added to the NL in the past can be accessed on the Potato Variety database of the Potato Council.
DNA Fingerprinting
- the identity of potato varieties can now be established by a DNA test in which any part of the potato or its product can be tested and compared against a databse of 1,000 potato varieties.
For further information, contact Stuart Carnegie or Heather Campbell. |
|
|
|
