"The Importance of Tuber Analysis for Seed Potatoes: Requirements, Methods, and Key Stages"

Potatoes hold an important position among agricultural crops and significantly influence the food security of various countries.

Autumn is the time for potato harvesting, when it is crucial to conduct a detailed analysis of the tubers' quality. This analysis will help evaluate the yield, nutritional properties, and suitability of potatoes for consumption, processing, and seed production.

Seed potatoes are regulated by the standard GOST 33996-2016 "Seed potatoes. Specifications and methods of quality assessment," which establishes requirements for potato seeds and methods of assessing their quality.

The first stage in preparing seed potatoes is the selection of tubers. Tubers must be healthy, intact, with firm skin, corresponding to the shape and color for the particular variety, as well as dry and free from signs of sprouting.

Seed potatoes should not contain pests, diseases, or weed seeds that are subject to quarantine in the Russian Federation according to the approved list.

Presence of "choke," freezing damage, burns, deformations, growths, and brittle tubers, as well as tubers that have been cut, crushed, or have their skin peeled off more than a quarter of the surface, is not allowed in seed potatoes.

Then, a sample for tuber analysis is submitted to a specialized organization before storing or selling the tubers.

During tuber analysis of seed potatoes, the sizes of the tubers are examined, the presence of tubers of other varieties, as well as the presence of soil and foreign impurities. Damaged and defective tubers are identified, as well as those showing external and hidden signs of diseases.

Based on the results of tuber analysis, a test protocol is drawn up in a specified format, which is valid for 30 days after the analysis.

In the branch of the Federal State-Funded Institution "Rosselkhoztsentr" in the Omsk region, accredited specialists work, entrusted with taking samples and conducting tuber analysis. Based on the obtained results, leading agronomists will provide recommendations on measures to protect seed potatoes and planting.