UK: AHDB Potatoes’ Next Generation tour the science behind the potato

AHDB Potatoes’ Next Generation headed to see the science behind potato seed on a two-day Scottish tour earlier this month. The group explored pre-basic minituber production on the first morning – the start of the process for the entire £4.8 billlion potato industry in Great Britain. Virtually all seed potato stocks produced in Scotland originate from the in-vitro, pathogen-tested microplant nuclear stock maintained by SASA (Science and Advice for Scottish Agriculture), a Scottish government institution the group visited that same afternoon. First up, the group were taken through the production processes at GenTech Propagation Ltd in Dundee, from initial splicing and microplant propagation, to minituber grading and bagging. More