Marketing Plan to Export, Plant, Monitor and Evaluate Seed Potatoes in China

NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY: China is the largest producer and user of potatoes (Solanum tuberosum) in the world, growing approximately 50 million tons per year. They need almost 3 million tons of seed potatoes per year and have banned the importation of new seed potatoes for over 17 years. China has a significant potato disease problem, and by 2003 will authorize the importation of 'certified' seed potato from the USA. Alaska and Washington are two of the few places that will meet the strict new phytosanitary conditions needed for Chinese approval of seed potato importation from the United States. A successful Marketing Plan for introduction and evaluation of new 'certified' disease free seed potatoes or minitubers in China, and developed as a result of this research, will open up the Chinese market for USA potato growers that can meet the new phytosanitary conditions. In Alaska this will amount to a substantial increase in the production of potatoes certified as disease free. Ten years from now, this effort can substantially improve our ability to sell table-potatoes to mainland China.