Potato Country

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December 2006

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Plant Variety Protection Expected to Change the Way Growers Do Business

Plant variety protection has moved into the mainstream, changing the way potato growers will do business in the future.

That was apparent at the 41st Annual Montana Seed Potato Seminar, held Nov. 8-9 at the Red Lion Colonial Hotel in Helena, Mont.

PVP Topics
Included in a well-rounded agenda of current potato topics were two presentations on plant variety protection. The first, an overview of the Potato Variety Protection Act, including requirements and the examination process, was by Dr. Lidia Carrera, an examiner with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Marketing Service, Science and Technology, Plant Variety Protection Office, Beltsville, Md. The second, an explanation of the Potato Variety Management Institute and its implications for the Northwest potato industry, was given by Dr. Jeanne Debons, executive director of the recently organized Potato Variety Management Institute, Bend, Ore.

How Will the PVMI Potato Variety-Protection Program Impact You?

How will Potato Variety Management Institute (PVMI) affected seed growing its protected releases?

Jeanne Debons, Bend, Ore., executive director of the newly organized Tri-State (Washington, Oregon, Idaho) organization, discusses the impact in this recent question-and-answer interview.

Debons holds a Ph.D. in potato plant pathology from Oregon State University and has extensive experience in both production and marketing. Before accepting her current position, she spent the past 12 years in the United Kingdom working in marketing positions for the Panasonic, Sterling Commerce, the BBC and other British companies.

Prior to that, she completed an overseas assignement with US AID in Egypt and other African countries. Her first job out of college was with the Central Oregon Experiement Station in Madras and Powell Butte.