The North Dakota State Seed Department produces high quality certified minitubers and tissue culture plantlets, and maintains a clone bank for the certified seed potato industry. Seed Department facilities in Fargo contain a sterile tissue culture laboratory, a modern greenhouse and material handling complex, and operate under strict quarantine standards. Highly trained staff utilize these resources in producing the highest quality prenuclear seed products available to the industry.

Tissue culture clones originate from sources such as:

• North Dakota State University breeding program
• Colorado State University
• Colorado Potato Certification Service
• University of Idaho
• Nebraska Potato Certification Association
• Texas A & M
• Cornell-Uihlein Foundation Seed potato farm
• Maine State Seed Potato Farm
• University of Wisconsin, Madison

All clones are tested for virus and bacteria at the NDSSD diagnostic laboratory and propagated in a sterilized media.

Plantlets are grown in the Greenhouse in three crop cycles and inspected twice each crop cycle. These inspections include visual screenings and ELISA virus testing of leaf tissue. Within 70 days the plantlets produce nuclear seed called minitubers. These are harvested, sized, bagged and stored until they are shipped.