Round-table discussion on the nomenclature and assessment of tuber blemishes
Time: Tuesday, July 26th, at 12:30
Convener: Karima Bouchek-Mechiche, INRA, France
(Please, check the attached files at the bottom of this page)
Potato tubers may be affected by a large range of blemishes leading to rejections or downgrading. Among these blemishes, several have been studied in detail (common and netted scab, powdery scab, black scurf, black dot and silver scurf), the causal agents are well-known and there is a general consensus about usage of symptom terminology.
However, several other frequently observed blemishes have a less clear origin and are cited in the literature with variable terminologies and are sometimes attributed to known pathogens following field observations rather than based on scientific evidence (Koch’ postulates).
Indeed, the nomenclature of tuber blemishes needs rationalisation. The objectives of the proposed round-table discussion are to approach this problem through an action committee with the contribution of experts from different countries and organizations, including seed potato, ware potato, processing potato experts, researchers, people working in extension, breeders, etc.
Besides working on a consensus classification of tuber blemishes, this round-table discussion would provide a good opportunity to share knowledge on the importance, nomenclature, assessment, and control of such tuber blemishes.
Proposed contents:
1. Introduction to the subject by France (K. Bouchek and collaborators)
2. An overview of the situation in another European country
3. A “tour around the table” to understand how the problem is tackled in different countries (France, UK, Finland, The Netherlands, Switzerland, Germany, Belgium and elsewhere), focusing on the following items :
- Economic incidences of such blemishes?
- Are there research programs carried on these blemishes (biology, symptomatology, epidemiology, control management, detection)
- Tuber blemishes versus seed certification process?
- Tuber blemishes versus varietal assessment?
4. How to rationalise the current national nomenclatures into a widely consensual version?
5. Listing topics of interest that could initiate working groups or collaborative research?
Please note that the round-table discussion will be focused on the matter of consensus nomenclature of tuber blemishes. Participants are more than welcome to submit abstracts for oral presentations or posters on blemishes and related topics in the framework of the general EAPR meeting and they will be discussed in the normal oral and poster sessions.
Attached files:
Slides of potato blemishes (pdf file)
Blemishing questionnaire (Excel file)
Presentation of the workshop (Word document)
