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16 | February/March - 2017 | 17
R&D | POTATO INDUSTRY EXTENSION PROGRAM |
Dr Steve Johnson is a potato specialist from the University of Maine who is renowned for his practical
knowledge and vast experience in potatoes. He recently visited Australia at the invitation of ViCSPA and
Potatoes Victoria for an event held as part of the Potato Industry Extension Program. ViCSPA General
Manager Dr Nigel Crump reports on Dr Johnson’s visit.
INTERNAT IONAL POTATO SPECIAL I ST VI S I TS AUSTRAL IA
In November, potato growers from Victoria and South Australia
were treated to a visit from Dr Steve Johnson, a crops specialist
and extension professor from the University of Maine.
During his visit, Dr Johnson spoke to potato growers and
industry representatives at evening meetings in Thorpdale, Ballarat
and Mount Gambier. He also spent time with growers in each of
the regions, looking at crops and discussing individual issues.
Dr Johnson was a keynote speaker at the Australasian Soilborne
Disease Symposium in New Zealand and his week in Australia
coincided with this conference.
TEACHING THE NEXT GENERATION
Over 20 years ago, through the Victorian Crisping Research Group
and with the late Tony Myers, Dr Johnson worked with the fathers
and grandfathers of our young growers. It was very interesting to
see him impart his knowledge and learnings to the next generation
of potato growers coming in to the industry.
Interestingly, Dr Johnson noticed that there is no organisation,
such as the former crisping group, working on-farm with growers to
address the issues of the day and generally improve potato farming.
At the formal presentations, Dr Johnson presented a range of
information including:
• The management of Late blight caused by Phytophthora
infestans. This included making the right fungicide selection for
the stage of crop growth and disease pressure. Inappropriate
selection and use of fungicide or the poor timing of application
can be expensive and result in ineffective control. Dr Johnson
gave an overview of the predictive modelling used to guide
growers in Maine to better manage Late blight. Importantly,
Australia only has older strains of the fungal pathogen P.
infestans, unlike other parts of the world including the United
States, which have new aggressive strains that have developed
resistance to metalaxyl (Ridomil). The Australian industry needs
to ensure that the new strains of P. infestans do not become
introduced and that our national quarantine and on-farm
biosecurity measures remain as effective prevention.
• The management of Pink rot of potatoes caused by
Phytophthora erythroseptica. Dr Johnson discussed the options
for control in Maine, which included Ridomil fungicide but also
showed phosphorous acid is effective in reducing tuber-to-tuber
spread of P. infestans and P. erythroseptica during mechanical
harvesting and tuber transfer in a situation where the diseases are
present at harvest.
• The general importance of seed quality, including physiological
age of seed and maximising seed cutting operation to achieve
better performing seed. This included discussion on the
importance of using certified seed that is known to have low
virus levels.
Many growers are looking for new information and know-how to
make more informed decisions in growing high yielding crops and
gaining better profit margins. Good, successful growers are not
simply “lucky”, but they have done their research and taken action to
overcome production constraints to improve their yields and quality.
POSITIVE FEEDBACK
There was excellent feedback from the growers who attended
the evening meetings with Dr Johnson. Many said it was the most
informative event that they have attended for some time.
The free-flowing and wide ranging discussion and interaction
between Dr Johnson and the audience was enlightening and
extremely informative. During the day, in between formal
engagements, growers appreciated Dr Johnson going on-farm and
talking with them about what they do, how they do it and learning
from an international expert. It was refreshing to see growers
picking out their own plant health issues, with many asking:
“What is this? What caused this? What can I do about this?” Many
questions were answered, and much was learned by all.
An important message here is to seek advice on pest and
disease symptoms to ensure a correct diagnosis and therefore
ensure the most appropriate control mitigation is implemented.
Understanding costs of production is also important, for
example planting seed of poor quality can be costly and result in
significantly lower returns to the grower.
FURTHER ACTIVITIES
Representatives from the Victorian Farmers Federation (VFF)
attended the evening meetings in Thorpdale and Ballarat and
presented on the range of services provided by the VFF and
Potatoes Victoria. Topics included industrial relations, roll-over
protection requirements on ATVs and primary producer
registration requirements.
While Dr Johnson was visiting Victoria’s potato production
regions, he met with representatives of McCain Foods and
Snackbrands for general discussion.
While in Australia, Dr Johnson also spent time with researchers
from La Trobe University’s AgriBio research facility and the
University of Melbourne to discuss various research activities and
exchange ideas. Importantly, this included discussion with a group
of post graduate students who are providing the next generation of
researchers with inspiration and motivation. Previously, Dr Johnson
has examined the theses of multiple PhD students from Australia
who were investigating disease impacting potato production.
A RESOUNDING SUCCESS
The opportunity to host Dr Johnson has generated a lot of
practical knowledge and stimulated much discussion. The
engagement with Dr Johnson was an overwhelming success for
potato growers and hopefully, through the new Potato Industry
Extension Program, the Australian potato industry can do more
of these much-needed engagements to truly extend grower
knowledge and productivity skills.
The value is unquantifiable in the short-term but critical in
terms of knowledge and knowledge extension to all potato
growers, which will ultimately lead to a more productive and
profitable potato industry. Importantly, there is a pressing need
to foster the education of young potato growers to facilitate
their transition to being successful and viable potato growers
into the future.
For further information or to discuss the Potato Industry Extension Program,
please contact Project Manager Adrian Dahlenburg on 08 8313 6706 or
or Arris Pty Ltd Managing Director Jim Kelly on
08 8313 6706 or .
The Potato Industry Extension Program has been funded by Horticulture
Innovation Australia Limited using the Fresh Potato Levy and funds from the
Australian Government.
Project Number: PT15002
INFO
L-R: Dr Steve Johnson and Terry Buckley inspect a potato crop tube
set on Terry's property, north of Mount Gambier in South Australia.
L-R: Dr Steve Johnson, Anna Young, Nella (Swedish research student) and Graham Henman
(Dowling Agritech) at a seed potato crop for Dowling Agritech in Penola, South Australia.