With the arrival of consistently warm weather, seed potatoes traditionally appear at garden exhibitions, markets, and fairs. Specialists from the Rosselkhoznadzor Administration for the Tver and Yaroslavl regions offer guidance on how to avoid mistakes when selecting planting material to ensure a bountiful and healthy harvest in autumn. The main recommendation from the supervisory agency is to purchase seed potatoes only from specialized stores, where sellers are required to provide accompanying documents confirming compliance with GOST standards and phytosanitary control. When choosing a variety, gardeners should verify that it is included in the State Register of Breeding Achievements — this guarantees that the variety has passed state trials for yield, product quality, and resistance to diseases and pests. The packaging must be clearly labeled with the manufacturer’s name and address, crop and variety name, reproduction class, batch number, and weight. The tubers themselves should show no damage, signs of rot, disease-related changes, or evidence of pest infestation.
Special attention should be paid to the reproduction class (generation) of seed potatoes, as this directly affects plant health and yield. Elite seed potatoes are high-quality planting material free from viruses and bacteria, producing healthy plants that respond well to care and deliver high yields of quality tubers. First reproduction — potatoes obtained in the first year after planting elite stock — also provides good yields, but disease accumulation occurs more quickly. Second and third reproductions can still yield decent harvests, but after one to two years, such potatoes are downgraded to food-grade category, with reduced yield and loss of varietal traits and disease resistance. Specialists recommend choosing tubers weighing between 50 and 100 grams, though larger varieties require larger planting tubers. It is best to purchase seed potatoes at least one month before planting — this allows enough time to prepare the tubers (warming, sprouting) without letting them overgrow into long, brittle sprouts.
