b'DIAGNOSISTHE ON DIAGNOSTIC LABSIs there enough diagnostic capacity forthe Canadian potato industry?BY: ASHLEY ROBINSONGROWING A POTATO CROP isnt easy. Whether its apaper stated a major problem in the identification of biotic causal commercial or seed crop, theres a lot of variables involved. Fromagents is the failure of some infectious pathogens grown on artificial fertilization, to hilling, to storage, to irrigation scheduling, theresmedia. This is where viral identification through diagnostic testing is always something to keep you busy with. used to determine viruses.And while theres all the regular work you do, sometimes you findThese types of reactions take specialized equipment and reagents, yourself looking at your crop asking, what is that? While you may doand the tests are not commonly done outside diagnostic and research everything possible to grow a pest and disease-free crop, sometimeslaboratories, the paper said.something will still slip in there and wreak havoc on your spuds.Across Canada the potato industry annually uses diagnostic This is where diagnostic testing comes into play. testing to keep everything flowing smoothly. Over the years, the As a seed grower, diagnostic testing isnt something you runindustry has shifted from a public to private model for diagnostic to when you find a problem, instead its something you use pre- testing causing some to question, just where do I go for testing emptively so no problems arise. To make sure all the growers youservices? sell seed to have clean, disease-free certified seed crops, you use diagnostic testing. Transitioning from Federal Labs to PrivateDiagnostic testing, according to a 2002 paper titled PlantIn the late 1990s change was afoot in Canada with new seed Disease Diagnosis by Melissa B. Riley, Margaret R. Williamson,regulations on the way. New standards in the Canadian Seed Potato and Otis Maloy, is used for identification of biotic causal agents. TheCertification Program were established in 1997 making for a largerThe Agricultural Certification Services Inc. lab in Fredericton, N.B. PHOTO: ACS LAB6SPUDSMART.COMSummer 2023'