Welcome to the Potato Research Group at WSU

Our mission

Our mission is to identify new potato varieties and cultural and postharvest management practices that will provide profitable production for the grower, improved competitiveness for the Washington potato industry, a healthy, inexpensive food supply for American consumers, and a sustainable environment. You can learn more about our mission here.

Our goal

Our goal is to provide relevant and up-to-date information that can be used by growers, processors, fresh-pack sheds, researchers, and other industry personnel.

Information we provide

Tri-State and Regional Variety Trials

Each year, we publish variety-trial results in user-friendly graphs, figures, and charts. This publication is available as a printed volume (the Potato Cultivar Yield and Postharvest Quality Evaluations yearbook) as well as an electronic publication. An economic analysis is conducted on all clones and cultivars for both the fresh and process markets, with the exception of the red and specialty clones. Cultivars are ranked according to their overall performance which takes into account economics, yields, tuber-size profiles, tuber quality and many postharvest attributes.

Commercial Seed Lot Evaluations

As a service to Washington potato growers, the Potato Research Group undertakes annual Commercial Seed Lot Evaluations in order to ensure a high-quality, disease-free industry. Results of annual professional evaluations of commercial potato seed lots are available online via this link as well as at the annual WSU Potato Field Day each June.

Postharvest Evaluations

The postharvest program identifies new potato clones that have superior postharvest and culinary attributes for the Pacific Northwest potato industry. We evaluate the storability and processing qualities of clones produced in early and late season management trials from Washington, Oregon, and Idaho at the postharvest storage and laboratory facilities in Pullman.

Research & Extension Information

Brief descriptions of our field and postharvest research capabilities, as well as a photo gallery of our vast array of research equipment are listed here. Current research articles from the Potato Research Group are located on our publications page. Many articles may be viewed online.