Testing potato diseases in the Maine Potato Disease Testing Lab

The Maine Potato Disease testing lab is located in the basement of the Maine Potato Board?building?in Presque Isle. That's where they do seed certification testing for the State of Maine for viruses and bacterial pathogens. Jaylee Fox is a lab technician. "With seed, whenever you replant it if you have a small percentage of virus or bacteria whatever you plant is going to become a lot more the next year. So what could be a small amount of virus infection one year could become a significant problem," said Fox. They also do some voluntary testing for growers. Right now Plant estimates they work with about 1,000 disease samples per year - but that number is about to increase significantly, as the seed certification process requires that all post harvest testing be full lab testing. Right now they send their samples to be grown on a farm in Florida for potato virus testing. When the certification process changes, all the samples will come to this building. That could be as early as 2018. "Being able to test stuff with a machine and being able to say with absolute certainty this is how much virus is in there, is very important as opposed to just looking at it and saying I reckon that's PVY so I think lab testing is a lot more rigorous and it's definitely the way of the future," said Fox. "It would stand to improve our seed industry and marketability and that passes down the line to our seed customers and the getting a better product," said plant pathologist and lab manager Andrew Plant. The Potato Board is already preparing for the transition by purchasing equipment and making storage rooms - and they're also planning on hiring a few full time temporary employees for that post harvest time period when the lab will be busy. Fox says other labs across the country will be watching this facility- and perhaps following suit. "I really want to prove to them that we can do it and its feasible and this is the way forward," said Fox. Plant and Fox say the transition may be tough on growers at first, but will benefit them in the long run. "What may have passed visually in the past, may not pass here," said Plant. "We're showing that we're really really invested in what we're selling and we're doing the best that we can to make sure that everybody gets exactly what they're paying for and that we know what's going on with our own product," said Fox. Plant says this is the only seed certification lab in the state.