News on Research from New Zealand

Mosgiel Taieri College students have created Winter Warrior, a potato-based windscreen spray that prevents frost. Developed for Young Enterprise, it is applied overnight to stop ice forming, aims eco-friendly, about $20 bottle. in testing phase.

French fries are part of a booming USD 18 billion sector, projected to reach USD 24 billion by decade’s end. Plant & Food Research, part of the Bioeconomy Science Institute, has been recognised for creating a new potato variety tailored to this market.

By adopting integrated pest management (IPM) practices growers are not on their own, Australian entomologist, Dr Paul Horne, told Pukekohe potato growers at a Potatoes New Zealand research update breakfast meeting in late March.

Colin and Donna Craig-Brown found the questionably large potato growing in their yard in November 2021. They even named the potato Dug and submitted their surprisingly large find to Guinness World Records (via Food & Wine).

A research project in New Zealand is determining if different field soils affect development of powdery scab on potatoes, and whether soil physical, chemical and/or biological characteristics influence this important potato disease.

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.

Potatoes New Zealand Inc. has won funding from the Ministry of Primary Industries for a major research project aimed at improving crop yield, more specifically, the impact of crop rotations on soil borne diseases and soil quality.

New research has been funded through the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, to help the potato industry reduce issues caused by an insect intruder – the tomato-potato psyllid.

A simple mesh cover could be the answer to halting New Zealand's most devastating tomato and potato pests, the tomato potato psyllid.

Research conducted by the Bio-Protection Research Centre at Lincoln University, using the southern ladybird as a biological control agent, has shown the predator to be voracious and effective at reducing tomato-potato psyllid (TPP) numbers.

Potatoes and other reportedly high-GI foods might not be the dietary villains that recent publicity, books and health-based programmes would claim them to be, a new University of Otago study suggests.

Potatoes New Zealand says the potato industry is struggling to deal with the tomato/potato psyllid, which spreads the damaging bacterium Liberibacter, and wants more help from the Government.

McCain Foods today announced the opening of a new cold-store facility built at a cost of NZ $6 million dollars in Hastings, New Zealand. The 1800 square metre cold store, which was designed to McCain Foods global standards, has the capacity to store u...

McCain Foods will close its Timaru vegetable plant, affecting 30 jobs. The company announced this morning it will close its small vegetable plant in early November, which is adjacent to the larger French fry facility. McCain Foods employs 240 staff a...