World Potato Congress Webinar: Dr. Monica Parker present 'Diversified Use of Apical Cuttings to Boost Potato Seed Systems'

The World Potato Congress is pleased to continue its webinar series and it gives us great pleasure to feature Dr. Monica Parker present 'Diversified Use of Apical Cuttings to Boos Potato Seed Systems'.

Abstract

Addressing seed shortages for potato is a perennial challenge in many potato-producing countries. Potato seed systems rely on several successive generations of bulking seed tubers to produce commercial seed, with multiplication ratios averaging 1:10-15 for each generation, compared to 1:200 for true seed crops.

As a consequence of these low multiplication ratios, three to four successive seasons in the field are required to produce commercial seed that is economically viable for the seed producer to sell and the farmer purchasing seed. Critical to seed potato production is the starter material used for onward multiplication.

Traditionally, minitubers produced from tissue culture plants using soil-, hydroponic- or aeroponic-based systems in a screenhouse serve as starter material for onward bulking in the field. Apical cuttings are an alternative to minitubers as starter material for seed production.

Dr. Parker is based in Nairobi, Kenya with the International Potato Center with roles as a Principal Investigator and providing leadership for Potato for Africa Program. With a career spanning 15 years in agriculture, primarily in Africa, Dr. Parker specializes in agricultural development through research and development and delivering science.

Bringing a multi-disciplinary approach, her work encompasses technical and project leadership, strengthening partnerships, and program growth. Her scientific studies on seed systems, quality assurance, good agricultural practices, and scaling technologies inform her work.

Through science at the forefront to improve farm productivity and bring positive livelihood changes, Monica further delves into validating how the technologies and approaches foster business development by assessing agronomic and economic outputs and outcomes of interventions.

She conducted her MSc (1999), and Ph.D. (2012) and Post-Doctoral Fellow in Plant Pathology from Simon Fraser University and the University of Guelph, respectively.

The host for the webinar series will be WPC Director, Dr. Nora Olsen (norao@uidaho.edu).

Following registration, you will receive a confirmation email that contains information about joining the webinar.

In case you missed the April 14, 2020 webinar with Dr. Karasev on 'Potato Viruses: An Update', you can now view this webinar and all previous webinars on the World Potato Congress website. In case you missed WPC's other webinars, please visit our website.