Potato Seed Certification

The primary responsibility of the Potato Seed Certification Program is seed certification, inspecting an average of 15,000 to 20,000 acres of different varieties of seed potatoes each year, making North Dakota’s the second largest seed potato program in the United States.

The NDSSD Potato Program is located in the Seed Department offices in Fargo, ND. Program administration and seedstock production are centered in Fargo, where program management and production specialists work. A regional facility located in Grafton, ND houses supervisors and staff associated with field inspection and shipping point inspection.

General responsibilities of the North Dakota Seed Potato Certification Program are:

• Trace back and trace forward documentation of seed lots for approval of seed stock eligibility
• Making visual inspections during growing season for disease, off-types and varietal purity
• Lot Inspections, i.e. shipping point inspections for physical quality factors
• Post Harvest Test to determine eligibility for re-certification of seed lots
• Disease testing for purposes of detection, symptom confirmation or prevImplementation of regulations

North Dakota is known for disease free, vigorous seed produced in a climate that promotes production of high quality seed. Strict certification tolerances recommended by North Dakota seed potato growers and demanded by the commercial industry contribute to a system that produces the most consistent performing seed in the industry.

Authority
The statutory authority for seed potato certification is found at NDCC Chapter 4-10.

The specific requirements of the seed certification program can be found in the North Dakota Seed Potato Certification Standards, i.e. Bulletin No 49, (revised in 2007). Regulations are promulgated under authority granted to the State Seed Commissioner, and are published in ND Administrative Code Article 74-04

A summary of these seed potato requirements can be found in the Seed Potato Directory, i.e. Bulletin No 95.