b'The Future of MinitubersChanges to minituberMINITUBERS ARE THE first step inUnit has been sold and now they want production in Ontario,seed potato production. They are grownus to rent it for a few years and then say in greenhouses and then replanted ingoodbye.has the potatofields to be multiplied before beingVanderZaag himself has been involved industry looking atsold to commercial potato growers. Forin minituber production for decades, years in Ontario, minitubers have beenhowever not as a producer himself. their options. cultivated and grown at the SPUD Unit inHe has worked as a potato breeder BY: ASHLEY ROBINSON New Liskeard, Ont. run by the Universityaround the world and in 1982 he was of Guelph. However, the facilities havethe International Potato Center regional been sold and the future of minituberdirector for southeast Asia. He introduced production is up in the air.new late blight resistant varieties to I think we need to get more peopleVietnam, however there wasnt anywhere involved in producing minitubersto buy the seed. in different creative ways, PeterThe Vietnam growers decided to take VanderZaag, a potato breeder withit on themselves to produce the seed Sunrise Potato in Alliston, Ont., saidthey needed. They started their own during a presentation at the Ontariosimple tissue culture labs in their houses Potato Conference on March 2, 2023.and began growing nuclear minitubers. The challenge we face now is the SPUDIn the decades since theyve increased Contracted minituber production by a private greenhouse grower at New Liskeard, Ont. PHOTO: CANDY KEITH36SPUDSMART.COM Spring 2023'