News on Research from the United States

It appears that potato psyllids, the tiny winged insects that can spread zebra chip disease in potato fields, will overwinter in Boise, Idaho, this season, despite the city experiencing one of its coldest Januaries on record.

Potato breeding developments being researched by graduate students in the Department of Plant and Soil Sciences of the University of Maine look to save the future of Maine’s iconic crop.

When a pathogen attacks a plant, infection usually follows after the plant’s immune system is compromised.  A team of researchers at the University of California, Riverside focused on Phytophthora and deciphered how it succeeded in crippling the potato...

New University of Idaho research suggests copper concentrations in some sandy-soiled Idaho farm fields treated with dairy lagoon water may be nearing levels that could stymie potato root growth.

Oregon State University once again has a plant breeder leading its potato development efforts after filling a position that was vacant for nearly two years: Sagar Sathuvalli.

Potatoes with higher levels of beneficial carotenoids are the result of U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) studies to improve one of America's most popular vegetables.

Papas que contienen niveles más altos de los carotenoides beneficiosos son el resultado de estudios por científicos del Servicio de Investigación Agrícola (ARS) para mejorar una de las hortalizas más populares en EE.UU.

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Weighs In For the First Time on Organic Foods for Children. In its report, the AAP cites lower pesticides in organic produce and potentially lower risk of exposure to drug-resistant bacteria, but says the most i...

Understanding the physiology of seed potato aging and how it affects crop growth and yield can be vital to the industry. Such knowledge will allow growers to adopt management practices that control the aging process and optimize tuber set and size.

Preventing activity of a key enzyme in potatoes could help boost potato quality by putting an end to cold-induced sweetening, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) scientists.

The process for preparing frozen, par-fried potato strips — distributed to some food outlets for making french fries — can influence the formation of acrylamide in the fries that people eat, a new study has found. Published in ACS’ Journal of Agricult...

USDA's Agricultural Research Service (ARS) announced it has restored half of the FY 2012 potato research funding it originally cut as a way to meet its obligated savings requirements.

The Alliance for Potato Research and Education (APRE) today announced that it will receive additional funding from the United States Potato Board (USPB) to support nutrition science research and education on the white potato in all forms.

As the annual potato harvest begins, Wisconsin farmers continue to check their fields for late blight, the ferocious plant disease that caused the 1848 Irish potato famine and fueled massive emigration from Ireland.

The U.S. Potato Board has agreed to quadruple its annual contribution to a year-old organization charged with defending the french fry. Effective this crop year, USPB will increase its investment in the Alliance for Potato Research and Education (APRE...

The federal government is providing $109,000 for the University of Idaho to study an emerging plant disease the school says “poses a substantial threat to the state’s potato industry.” The money will be used to monitor potato fields for the presence o...

While other potato growers use preventative insecticide applications to protect their crops from a new disease to the Pacific Northwest, called zebra chip, Fred Brossy can only wait and see if it hits him.

The University of Idaho extension today announced that the potato psyllids found last month in Idaho tentatively tested positive for Liberibacter, Zebra Chip disease.