DEVELOPMENT OF QUALITY POTATO SEED PRODUCTION SYSTEM IN RUSSIA.

The modern system of seed potato production and commercial quality control was developed by Russian Research Centre of Potatoes and approved further by Interstate Council for Standardization, Metrology and Certification. The major aspects concerning the common terminology, classification, specifications and methods for determining the quality adopted in Russia and unified with international systems and UNECE-Standard. In the present study minimum requirements for early generation seed production (original seed), further multiplication (elite seeds) and for end-use ware potato production (reproductive seed) is presented. Which includes: varietal identity and purity, diseases and pests, external tuber quality, sizing and labeling. The modern system of seed potato quality control includes field surveys during crop growth, post-harvest control (tuber analysis) and comparative field trial of seed potato samples. The major objective of comparative field trial in 2020-2021 crop seasons with the normative tolerances of the standard requirements related to varietal identity and purity and the level of viral and bacterial diseases transmitted through seed material. 288 samples of original seed potatoes were evaluated on the test-plot of the experimental base located at «Korenevo» of the Russian Research Centre of Potatoes (Moscow region) to determine their varietal identity, the presence or absence of other variants and plants affected by virus and bacterial diseases. Results of comparative field trial of original seed potato samples are considered in this article. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]