R447 Independent Variety Trials

Aim: To provide robust disease resistance ratings for new and, where appropriate, existing varieties for public dissemination.
Industry Challenge
In order to comply with both national and European Community legislation for the marketing of seed potatoes, all potato varieties must be placed on the official National List (NL) of a Member State. When this is achieved, the variety is automatically entered on to the Common Catalogue. Part of the National List (NL) testing of a potato variety involves the assessment of ‘value for cultivation and use’. In the UK, this testing is mostly concentrated on evaluating varietal performance for susceptibility to diseases, pests and some tuber quality characteristics considered to be of most importance in UK potato production. In addition, Common Catalogue varieties which are being developed for GB production also require independent testing.
Collaboration
SASA, BioSS, James Hutton Institute (JHI), SAC
Approach
f) Publish data from NL and IVT trials when finalised for access by industry, including publication on the AHDB Potatoes British Variety Database.
Reports for the IVT Programme 2008-2010 are available via project R407
Reports