Dr. Alexander Pavlista of Scottsbluff was elected president of the Potato Association of America in August, during the organization's annual meeting at Idaho Falls, Idaho. The association has more than 700 members, including scientists in university, government and industry;government regulators;large growers;and potato processors.
Both the PAA and the potato industry will be faced with several important issues in the coming year, Pavlista said. For the PAA, the key long-range decision will be changing the publisher of its journal from the University of Maine to Springer Publishing. The association also will consider new, standardized guidelines for hosting major meetings, and will roll out a new web site with its own Internet domain name, and a new, user-friendly design intended to appeal more to the general public.
For the U.S. potato industry, a major challenge is reacting to several diseases discovered in recent years whose cause has yet to be identified, primarily zebra chip.
