Summaries of stories appearing in this issue.

April 2007

The Campaign to Make a Difference

Few people in the Washington state potato industry had more initial doubts about the future of the United Potato Growers of America movement than Allen Floyd, general manager of Harvest Fresh Produce Inc., Othello, Wash.

That began to change in February 2005, when Albert Wada, chairman of the newly founded cooperative, came to Pasco and made a pitch before a group of Washington and Oregon fresh potato growers and shippers.

After Wada finished his presentation, Floyd, who was chairman of the Washington State Potato Commission at the time, recalls letting out a whistle and asking the question that would set the wheels of change in motion: “Are we going to treat this like everything else and just walk away, or are we going to do something about it?”

Motivated by Poor Returns
Back-to-back years of depressed potato prices were taking their toll. Growers, large and small, were losing money. Many were either going broke or were well on their way. The big question was whether the huge distrust between in- and out-of-state rivals could be broken down, honest and effective communications established, and more profitable times return. ...

New Varieties from the Tri-State Breeding Program

By Jeanne Debons
Executive Director, PVMI

All potato breeding selections, referred to as clones, go through a strenuous evaluation process before they are released as varieties. This process can take as many as 15 years and involves hundreds of tests. Tens of thousands of inferior selections are eliminated in the process, leaving only the best clones.

Advanced clones have a high probability of being released as new varieties. These clones are evaluated by growers and users and require industry acceptance as part of the process prior to release. The Tri-State breeding program works closely with the industry and growers to evaluate all aspects of each advanced clone using a system of
Material Transfer Agreements, referred to as MTAs. These allow for growers to get advanced lines, test them under field circumstances and allow for enough quantity to be built up so evaluations of processing traits can be considered under actual plant conditions. This stage of grower evaluation is conducted over several years while the advanced clone is still part of the Western Regional Trials.

The following article is designed to give the reader a summary of the information available for the newly released varieties as well as some insights into the characteristics of the advanced clones ¯ those that are in the pipeline and available for grower evaluation under MTAs. For more detailed information, check the website at http://www. pvmi.org/whats-new/. ...

Successful Potato Irrigation Scheduling

By Clint Shock, Rebecca Flock,
Eric Eldredge, Andre Pereira,
and Lynn Jensen

In the late 1980s, the U.S. Pacifi c Northwest potato industry faced a crisis. Potato tuber quality was inadequate to meet the needs of potato processing companies due to a condition called “sugar ends” or “dark ends” in fried tuber slices. This defect was common in tubers grown on stressed Russet Burbank plants, but the stresses aggravating
the condition were poorly defi ned. Growers lost contracted acres.

In 1989, northern Malheur County was declared a groundwater management area due to groundwater nitrate contamination. The groundwater contamination was linked, at least in part, to furrow irrigation of potato. All irrigation systems in arid regions require some leaching fraction to avoid salt accumulation. However, with the high nitrogen fertilizer rates used through the 1980s, and heavy water applications on furrow-irrigated potato, nitrogen and other mobile nutrients were readily lost to deep percolation and in runoff.

In response to these problems, Malheur Experiment Station began research to determine the soil water requirements for potato production in the Treasure Valley by carefully monitoring soil water status using soil moisture sensors. As growers modifi ed irrigation and other practices to minimize water stress on potato plants during tuber development,
sugar ends became less prevalent.

At the same time, Experiment Station research and grower experience found that sprinkler irrigation could reduce sugar ends and improve tuber grade. Some growers purchased or leased sprinkler irrigation systems. Growers regained contracted acreage by learning to schedule irrigation, shifting to the Shepody variety, and converting from furrow to sprinkler irrigation. ...