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The Potato Research Advisory Committee (PRAC) created new pillars at its 2024 meeting in July, marking a new direction in the group’s research focus. PRAC’s research pillars were last updated in 2019.
- Why it matters: PRAC encourages national collaboration among the potato industry, identifies common research objectives, and solicits and evaluates research projects, focusing on a limited number of nationally supported proposals that meet PRAC’s standards.
The new pillars include:
- New Protective Solutions
- Subtopics: fumigation practices and replacements, variety development and resistant genes, neonic alternatives, chlorpropham (CIPC) alternatives, and innovative agronomics or biologics
- Sustainability
- Subtopics: precision agriculture, post-harvest storage management, energy efficiency, nutritional sustainability and environmental conservation best practices
- Disease, Virus and Pest Mitigation
- Subtopics: disease management, integrated pest management, plant defense mechanisms, agronomic mechanisms and vector management
- Groundscape
- Subtopics: soil health, impact of environmental factors and field variability
PRAC will also meet mid-October to determine the next round of support provided to potato projects submitted to the Specialty Crop Research Initiative (SCRI), the largest funding pool for specialty crops.
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