Plant health through certification

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2 Plant health through certification John Kerr Head of Potato Branch, SASA Sharon Matthews-Berry Plant Health Consultant, Fera Your logo here if desired

3 Workshop Objectives Certification in Context ooverview of what certification delivers oscottish SPCS oengland and Wales SPCS othe role of the grower ocase studies o Brown Rot/Ring Rot o Epitrix o Dickeya o Zebra Chip Discussion Topics oblackleg controls oeu Proposals

4 UNECE Seed Potato Standard from 1963 Aims:- 1. To develop a global standard 2. To create a harmonised certification system 3. To define harmonised quality requirements for seed potatoes Covers:- 1. Varietal identity and purity 2. Genealogy and traceability 3. Diseases and pests 4. External quality and physiology 5. Sizing and labelling

5 UK High Grade Region Scotland, Northern Ireland and Northern England Parts of the UK are recognised by the EU as a high quality Community Grade Area for potato production produces only Pre-basic and Basic seed Lower quality Certified seed (blue labels) is not permitted for planting in Scotland for seed or ware production Scotland is free from many important potato pests and diseases No Clonal Selection

6 Seed area (ha) Seed area in England and Wales CC A E SE PB

7 Community grades specify use of nuclear stock Almost all seed potato crops in Scotland are derived from pathogen tested microplants produced officially at SASA C. 700 varieties (lines) are held in the Nuclear Stock collection Nuclear Stock is propagated to minitubers by 7 commercial PBTC growers in Scotland and 1 in Northern Ireland.

8 Controls: Scotland Seed Origin and Identity Approval of Production site (PBTC) Competence of Grower (PBTC and PB) Eligibility of Land (including ware) Crop health, purity and separation Lot health, identity and labelling Control of Ware crops

9 Role of the Grower It is decision making and hard work of the grower, agronomists and staff that underpin crop health and quality.

10 Control through inspection Quality is verified by inspection of the potatoes based on assessment of visual symptoms. Tolerances relate to the growing crop, harvested tubers and direct progeny of the seed potatoes.

11 Attention to detail is needed at every stage

12 Percentage area failed (%) Delivering virus health Area downgraded or failed expressed as a percentage of the total area Leafroll Mosaic

13 Percentage of crop area affected Securing Blackleg health? Crops with blackleg over tolerance Year

14 Reasons for downgrades and failures Severe Virus Leaf Roll Blackleg Blackleg + Severe virus

15 Seed sources seed production 2012 England and Wales - 3,250 ha, 950 stocks Every stock grown from imported seed tested for Ring Rot (Clavibacter michiganensis) & Brown Rot (Ralstonia solanacearum) all -ve NL, 17 % UK E and W, 35% Other EU, 2% UK Scotland, 46 %

16 Quarantine pest and diseases BR on ware production farms in 1990 s Source - ware potatoes from 3 rd countries Washings contaminated rivers Ware crops irrigated from contaminated rivers RR outbreak on Seed Farm in 2003 NL seed BR interception 2010 Close collaboration - NL informed UK Seed delivered to English growers. Notification enabled rapid tracing

17 Lessons from outbreaks Lessons from outbreaks Highest risk from none UK seed and ware Seed sources Highest risk from none UK seed Traceability Essential to know what is imported and where it goes Domestic legislation requiring notifications

18 Future threats - Epitrix Potato pests native to North America Canada Epitrix tuberis most damaging Portugal damage 2004 Epitrix similaris Epitrix cucumeris Spain - outbreaks 2010 E. similaris in Galicia

19 Epitrix similaris Epitrix cucumeris

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23 EU emergency measures Voluntary notification (via ) from importers of Spanish and Portuguese ware potatoes in place from March 2011 March 2011 April notifications of ware potatoes ex Portugal & Spain 79 inspected (3 from Portugal 76 from Spain) All ve EU Decision (May 2012) Ware from infested area to be washed or brushed placed obligations on MS to do surveys

24 Dickeya spp case study Monitoring Programme : Headlines In Scotland D. solani was found in.. One river (infested from infected ware crop/processing waste?) In a small number of ware crops (Non-Scottish origin seed) produced in 2009 In imported ware potatoes for immediate processing/consumption in 3 out of 4 years of sampling In non-scottish-origin variety trial material (3/5 candidates) in 2009 Conclusions. D. solani is not indigenous to Scotland and has yet to establish itself in the Scottish potato industry. However, there have been multiple introductions in recent years

25 Response: New Legislation

26 Legislation: The Headlines The Scottish potato seed classification scheme modified to introduce a nil tolerance for Dickeya spp. Where infections found cannot be kept/traded as seed Supervised programme of washing/disinfection machinery etc. Ware to be treated in the same way Where infection found crops destroyed and no farm-saved seed allowed Large scale routine surveillance programme started to support our ongoing nil tolerance approach. All seed and ware crops found free from Dickeya spp in the last two years (2011 and 2012)

27 Zebra chip disease First identified in Mexico in 1994 also in Central America (Guatemala & Honduras) In Texas in 2000 and has since spread in the USA In 2008 zebra chip was identified in New Zealand and the causal organism was identified as Candidatus Liberibacter solanacearum Vectored by the potato/tomato psyllid

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30 Why the concern? Has caused severe damage to potato crops in the USA Severe damage to potatoes and tomatoes in New Zealand Potato/tomato psyllid is absent from Europe Bacterium identified on carrots in Finland, Spain and Norway different vector the carrot psyllid different strain bacterium? No obvious pathway for introduction into New Zealand Recent evidence that infected plants can grow from infected tubers

31 What s next EPPO Pest Risk Assessment currently in production EU/National legislation?

32 Area affected as a percentage of area grown Pectobacterium: is our eye on the ball? Area with Blackleg recorded by field generation number FG1 FG2 FG3 FG4 FG5 FG6

33 Area affected as a percentage of area grown (%) Pectobacterium: already well managed? 15 Area that did not hold its entry class due to Blackleg recorded by field generation number FG1 FG2 FG3 FG4 FG5 FG6

34 Blackleg controls? Separation of classes in the field (esp PB1 and PB2) Approach to Roguing Timing of inspections (earlier, later a third inspection) Burn down dates (enforcing these) Roguing after burndown Bacterial load testing (surface versus systemic) Curing period Cold store management Dressing temperature Time spent in Jumbo Bags Cleaning and disinfection of equipment Control of volunteer potatoes in the rotation

35 Future Seed Potato Classification Scheme Categories PBTC Pre-basic Basic Certified Current Scottish Nuclear Stock (SASA microplants) Pre-basic TC (microplants/mini-tubers) PB 1-4 Super Elite (3) Elite (3) A EU Proposal Initial Stock (Needs defined) PBTC (microplants/mini-tubers) PB 1-4 S ( 5) SE ( 6) E ( 7) A B

36 Future Scheme Current Draft Pre-basic Basic Certified Crop Tolerances PBTC EU PB Scot PB EU S Scot SE EU SE Scot E EU E Scot A EU A EU B Not True to type Blackleg Virus SM 0.01 LR 0.05 MM (0.1 MM/LR) (0.4 MM/LR) 2 6 Progeny Virus Lot tolerances Rots (0 BL) 0.5 (0.2) (0.2) (0.2) (0.2) 0.5 (0.2) Black Scurf 0 1 (5%) 1 (1/8) 5 (10%) 3 (1/8) 5 (10%) 3 (1/8) 5 (10%) 3 (1/8) 5 (10%) 5 (10%) Common Scab 0 5 (33%) 5 (33%) 5 (33%) 4 (25%) 5 (33%) 4 (25%) 5 (33%) 5 (33%) 5 (33%) 5 (33%) Powdery Scab 0 1(10%) 1 (1/8) 3 (10%) 3 (1/8) 3 (10%) 3 (1/8) 3 (10%) 3 (25%) 3 (10%) 3 (10%) Shrivelled tubers (0 Y ntn (0.1 (0.1 (0.1 Damage/defects 3 ) 3 Y ntn ) 3 Y ntn ) 3 Y ntn ) 3 3 Soil/extraneous How do we implement this table?

37 The UK Authorities work diligently and are committed to maintaining our High Health Status Certification schemes work well in maintaining the health status of UK potato crops Certification of seed potatoes key element in the control of quarantine pests Planting of potatoes originating from outside the UK poses the most significant threat to UK seed production but co-operation between industry and government will ensure security of supply to difficult markets.

38 Dr John Kerr Head of Potato Section SASA Roddinglaw Road, Edinburgh EH12 9FJ, Scotland Tel Fax Dr Sharon Matthews-Berry Plant Health Consultant Fera Sand Hutton York YO41 1LZ Tel