An Overview of Seed Potato Production: National and International Perspective

The quality of potato seed tubers is essential to the financial success of potato field crops with guaranteed yields and improved quality. In all potato production methods, great productivity is generally seen as a need. Poor seed quality is largely to blame for the yield gap that is now limiting production in low-income nations. A formal sector is now interested in supporting the development and use of high-quality seed tubers of these native potato varieties as a consequence of smallholder farmers’ expanded options for commercial production of these types. Other low-income nations use an informal system using seeds that are inconsistent and usually of poor quality, which contributes to the large production discrepancies typical of those regions. Although formal systems with high-quality, certified seed predominate in areas with high potato output (such as the USA and Europe), certain agricultural subsectors (such as organic growers) often utilize uncertified seed. Since efforts to establish official seed networks in low-income nations have mostly failed, the majority of low-resource potato growers get their seeds via an informal system. The chapter mainly focuses on the seed potato situation at the national and international levels because of the significant impact that seed quality has on the poor yields of potatoes in low-income nations, which is not the case in richer regions of the globe.