Potato News from Oceania

Plant Biosecurity CRC scientists have identified stable regions in the genome of Candidatus Liberibacter solanacearum (CLso), which causes the serious disease Zebra Chip in potato and tomato crops. This research will provide new diagnostics that will significantly reduce uncertainty in biosecurity assessments.

TOMRA Sorting Solutions will join Heat and Control at Booth i41 at Foodpro 2017 in Sydney to showcase their wide range of optical sorting solutions.

West Australian potato growers want their potatoes back on dinner plates every day to help ease a massive glut. The advertising campaign - named Todatoes - began Saturday night with the start of a prime-time television advertising campaign.

Foodpro 2017 runs from July 16-19 at the new International Convention Centre Exhibition Building in Sydney Darling Harbour, Australia. Heat and Control will showcase their latest and most innovative products available on the Australian market.

Key Technology introduces its VERYX® family of digital sorters to the Australian food processing industry with the VERYX C140 on exhibit at the FoodPro trade show in Sydney 16-19 July, 2017.

Seed potato growers on Kangaroo Island - an island off the mainland of South Australia - are successfully adopting a new strategy to manage the aphids and thrips pestering their crops, taking on expert advice from agronomists and entomologists to adopt integrated pest management for these insect pests.

Potato Product Fryers 101: Selecting the right fryer design is one of the most critical decisions in potato processing. Don Giles, Director of Sales, Processing Systems at Heat and Control explains how specialised fryer designs improve productivity and quality.

In New Zealand, produce company T&G is launching a new brand of low carb potatoes with the memorable name 'Lotatoes'.

McCain Foods Australia has announced a AU$57 million investment to revitalise its potato processing plant in Ballarat, which is expected to create 100 construction jobs and increase production by 25 per cent.

Most people say that if there is a healthy choice on a menu they will take it. But observations and research show this is generally not the case.

For almost 50 years, Bernie White has grown potatoes in the rich, red, volcanic soil of Trentham, the traditional potato patch in Victoria, Australia. Now he doesn't know if his farm has a future.

Alan Parker looked out onto the farm business he had spent his entire life establishing. The West Australian seed potato grower will know in the next six weeks whether his lifelong career will continue.

Potato Psyllids, a destructive plant pest found for the first time in Australia in February cannot be eradicated, so the industry will seek to manage it, rather than destroy it, according to The Department of Food and Agriculture of West Australia.

The Heat and Control all-in-one Grader-Halver is designed to grade potatoes according to size and halve the product sorted if it is larger than the predetermined size.

Heat and Control Inc., and ScandiNova Systems AB, announce strategic partnership to deliver next generation of Pulse Electric Field (PEF) technology to the food industry.

In New Zealand, a team of Lincoln University researchers is impressed with the results from a trial of a mesh cover that is used to protect potato crops from insect pests.

Equipment manufacturer Heat and Control launched an Augmented Reality App, featuring the Heatwave Fryer. The app is available for download now - in time for the AusPack 2017

New Zealand potato chip manufacturer Heartland Potato Chips just launched a range of premium crafted kettle chips in four flavours.