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Seed potato degeneration, the reduction in yield or quality caused by an accumulation of pathogens and pests in planting material due to successive cycles of vegetative propagation, has been a long-standing production challenge for potato growers around the world. In developed countries this problem has been overcome by general access to and frequent use of seed, produced by specialized growers, that has been certified to have pathogen and pest incidence below established thresholds, often referred to as certified seed. The success of certified seed in developed countries has concentrated the research and development agenda on the establishment of similar systems in developing countries. Despite these efforts, certified seed has had little penetration into the informal seed systems currently in place in most developing countries. Small-scale farmers in these countries continue to plant seed tubers acquired through the informal seed system, i.e. produced on-farm or acquired from neighbours or local markets. Informal seed tubers frequently have poor health status, leading to significant reductions in yield and/or market value. This review emphasizes the need to refocus management efforts in developing countries on improving the health status of seed tubers in the informal system by integrating disease resistance and on-farm management tools with strategic seed replacement. This 'integrated seed health strategy' can also prolong the good health status of plants derived from certified seed, which would otherwise be diminished due to potential rapid infection from neighbouring fields. Knowledge gaps, development challenges and impacts of this integrated seed health strategy are discussed.

In potato breeding and selection, storability should be regarded as equally important as yield, disease resistance, and quality. A study documenting the dormancy period, sprouting behavior, and weight loss of 17 International Potato Center potato elite and advanced clones was carried out in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, under cellar and cold store conditions, during 2008 and 2009. Ninety tubers of each of 17 clones were allocated to experimental units of 30 tubers each placed in trays and randomized in three replications following a random complete block design. Therefore, there were three replications of 30 seed tubers each per entry. The dormancy period ranged from 77 to 115 days and from 100 to 186 days under cellar and cold storage, respectively. There was a relatively high positive correlation (0.69) for dormancy period between storage systems, indicating that clones demonstrating longer and shorter dormancy periods under one system will also behave similarly under the other system. A negative correlation (−0.53 and −0.88) was found between dormancy period and length of the longest sprout in cellar and cold store, respectively, meaning that clones with shorter dormancy often showed a greater length of their longest sprout. The weight loss percentage per tuber was similar in both storage systems, from 5.0% to 8.0% in the cellar and from 5.0% to 9.8% in the cold store, although for different storage periods (an average of 110 and 166 days under cellar and cold storage conditions, respectively). The study indicated that under cellar conditions, clones with a longer dormancy period and slower rate of sprout growth have less weight loss during storage and therefore better keeping quality.

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A study was conducted to evaluate the yield of nutrient-rich potato clones in high-hill districts: Dolakha and Jumla of Nepal during the years 2013 and 2014, respectively. Fourteen potato clones were tested as on-station and on-farm experiments at both districts, and those fourteen clones were compared to 'Lady Rosita' and 'Jumli Local' respectively as the check varieties in the first year experiment, 2013. Eight promising clones were selected from the first year experiment, and were evaluated and compared with same local varieties in the consecutive year, 2014.