With the Canadian Spud Congress coming up on March 22 and 23, we’re highlighting the sessions happening at it on Spud Smart. In this story we’re taking a closer look at the “Seed Speaks — Will True Potato Seeds Affect Potato Growers?” session.
In this special episode of Seed Speaks, we’re diving into the world of true potato seed. While true potato seed isn’t a new product, there’s still hesitation around the idea, especially when it comes to growing them! Although we can’t predict the future, panelists are going to discuss the differences in growing true potato seeds compared to potato tubers and how true potato seed might change the future of potato farming.
Moderator: Alex Martin, Spud Smart U.S. correspondent
Time: 12 p.m. CDT on March 23
Panelists
Charles Miller is the commercial director of Solynta, an innovative company using hybrid potato breeding to seed a more sustainable future of agriculture and global nutrition. In his role as commercial director, Miller is responsible for Solynta’s global business development strategy and sales network. His in-depth experience in the international seed industry helps bring Solynta’s revolutionary developments in hybrid potato breeding to the world market.
Miller is currently serving on the board of directors for the American Seed Trade Association. He is chairman of the group’s International Executive Committee. In addition, Miller’s a board member for the African Seed Trading Association. He holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree in agricultural Economics from Texas A&M University.
Helen Tai is a potato genetics and genomics research scientist with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) in Fredericton, N.B. She received her bachelor of science in biochemistry and master of science in anatomy at the University of Toronto. She went on to the University of Ottawa for doctoral studies on mammalian genetics and molecular biology. Tai switched to plant biology during her post-doctoral fellowship with the Canadian Forest Service and joined AAFC in 2006. Her research is focused on improving potato breeding. She’s currently leading a project on genomic selection for potato breeding. Her research also includes Colorado potato beetle resistance, Verticillium wilt resistance, nitrogen use efficiency, cold storage quality and diploid breeding. Tai collaborates with researchers across Canada and around the world including work with the International Potato Centre and others on genome sequencing of potato and its wild relatives. Tai is the current president of the Potato Association of America.
