Expanding export markets may rely upon the ability to minimize phytosanitary risks associated with exported fresh market potatoes by ensuring potatoes will not sprout and develop plants. This study analyzed two historical data sets to evaluate the effect of chlorpropham (CIPC) sprout inhibition (1) on sprout development during storage and (2) on plant emergence in the field. To assess storage temperature impact on sprout development, data from 2001 to 2010 storage seasons were compared between nontreated and thermal CIPC-treated potatoes using 25 varieties stored at three temperatures (5.6 C, 7.2 C, or 8.9 C). Sprout development was evaluated approximately one month after harvest and subsequently evaluated each month for approximately seven months. Field trials, conducted in 2009, 2010, 2012, 2014 and 2015, compared emergence of (1) nontreated tubers, (2) thermal CIPC-treated (22 mg L− 1 application) tubers, (3) CIPC-spray treated tubers (various rates), and/or (4) a combination of both CIPC applications. After 150 days in storage, CIPC-treated tubers had a 1
Soft rot and blackleg diseases caused by Soft Rot Pectobacteriaceae (SRP) continue to significantly hinder global potato production. However, their epidemiology is often attributed to a single pathogen, which oversimplifies their complexity. This review examines these diseases as polymicrobial systems in which disease expression may be influenced by multiple pathogens, the host, and environmental factors. A thorough analysis was performed using data from Web of Science, Scopus, and Google Scholar, incorporating findings from genomics, transcriptomics, co-inoculation experiments, and microbiome studies. Mixed SRP detections have been reported in potato production systems, while controlled studies show that particular strain combinations can produce facilitative, neutral, or antagonistic outcomes. Where interactions have been demonstrated, their outcomes depend on host, microhabitat, and environmental conditions. The available evidence shows that disease expression can be modified by interactions among SRP populations, the host, and the local microbial environment, although the importance of these effects varies among strain combinations and experimental conditions. This underscores the limitations of diagnostics focused on single pathogens and supports integrated, ecology-based disease management strategies to improve prediction and control.
Despite the long history of potato cultivation in Brazil, its territorial dynamics remain poorly understood. We analyzed municipal and micro-regional production data from 1994 to 2024 using structural-break analysis, location quotients and global and local Moran’s I statistics. Yield gain sustained production despite declining cultivated area, while producing municipalities fell from 991 to 617. Specialization became concentrated in fewer micro-regions and formed persistent spatial clusters, with the strongest cohesion in Minas Gerais and São Paulo. Processing-related activities were spatially persistent and more closely associated with production. Therefore, the main contribution of this paper to the literature is, through these patterns, identify regional cores where potato research, seed systems, extension, postharvest infrastructure, and risk management may have greatest leverage. The framework is transferable to other potato-producing countries and can be extended with demand data to assess subnational production-consumption imbalances.
Castle Russet is a medium- to late-maturing cultivar with higher full season yield of oblong-long, heavy-russeted tubers with higher dry matter content and cold sweetening resistance than standard potato cultivars. Castle Russet U.S. No. 1 yields are similar to Russet Burbank and significantly higher than Russet Norkotah. Castle Russet has high specific gravity, light fry color with few external and internal defects. Castle Russet is extremely resistant to all strains of PVY, resistant to corky ring spot (CRS) disease caused by tobacco rattle virus (TRV) and symptom insensitive to potato mop top virus (PMTV). Further, Castle Russet exhibits moderate resistance to foliar early blight, common scab, Verticillium wilt, Fusarium dry rot, soft rot, and Potato leaf roll virus (PLRV). Preponderance of resistances make Castle Russet an ideal cultivar for processing for French fries and fresh market sectors; however, Castle Russet has the tendency to produce hollow heart and potential to accumulate moderate to high levels of glycoalkaloids.
Potato (Solanum tuberosum, family Solanaceae) was domesticated and cultivated by farmers in southern Peru for more than 10,000 years. It was introduced to Europe in the 16th century and subsequently reached Iran in the 17th century. However, the apparent disappearance of potato cultivation across much of Iran during the 18th century, followed by its reintroduction in the 19th century and subsequent promotion by the state, presents a puzzling historical trajectory. This puzzle can be better understood through a careful examination of historical accounts alongside cultural, economic, linguistic, and social evidence found in travelogues, diaries, cookbooks, accounting records, and official documents. As a result, four major routes of introduction of potato cultivation into Iran were identified and discussed in detail, as follows: (A) Introduction by European merchants or diplomats, including Portuguese, Dutch, French, or English actors, via southern Iran in the 17th century; (B) Introduction via the Indian subcontinent by Indian or Iranian merchants and scholars in the 17th century; (C) Introduction through northwestern Iran by Russian merchants or diplomats during the 18th and 19th centuries; and (D) Introduction via central Iran by British agents in the 19th century. Considering the fact that the multiple and asynchronous waves of potato introduction to Iran take almost two-hundred years to gain the acceptance of the plant by the Iranian population, it suggests that the success or failure of introducing, cultivating and consuming a crop such as potato depends not only on its nutritional and agronomic merits but also on a complex interplay of historical, economic, and cultural factors, some of which are their accessibility, affordability, cultural acceptability, political intentionality of their introduction and their culinary integrability.
