First, to clear up the confusion: “seed potatoes” and “true seed” are different things.

“True seed” are produced from flowers. In asexual crops, “seed” sometimes refers to their asexual Propagules that are used from. This is the propagule that the farmers use, but it is not true seed.

True Potato Seeds (TPS) - The Cultivariable Growing Guide

Coltivazione di patate da seme.

Alcune immagini dovrebbero aiutare a spiegare questo:

Patate da seme: piccole, più facili da gestire, senza malattie. Piantate dagli agricoltori.

Seme vero: piantato dagli allevatori.

Bacche di patate con semi veri all'interno: prodotte dagli allevatori, per il miglioramento dei semi.

La produzione di semi in agricoltura si riferisce alla situazione in cui il seme di qualità è il prodotto, e il cliente è l'agricoltore. Questo è diverso dagli agricoltori, dove il raccolto/grano/cibo è il prodotto, e loro vendono ai consumatori o al mercato aperto. In most senses, they don’t care whether that seed will germinate (and in the case of seeded hybrids, they don’t care if the genetics have changed).

I work at a breeding company. Our product is seed that we sell to farmers (and to a minor extent, gardeners). To confuse you further, potato (and sweetpotato) breeders will use true seed when they are doing their breeding.

I don’t work in the potato industry, but it’s worth mentioning that you ideally want your seed production in an environment that is different from where the farmer’s production is happening. The reason for this is you want it free of diseases and pests, even if it costs more money. This results in seed production happening in places you might not expect (e.g. dry, irrigated environments that are expensive to maintain but have predictable weather are quite good for seed production). L'Idaho è in effetti un importante luogo di produzione di semi per molte colture.

Frequently Asked Questions About Growing Potatoes

Le patate dolci producono mai semi?

A lot of places get their seed potatoes from the remote Pemberton Valley in British Columbia, which very severely controls the planting of potatoes from outside to prevent the introduction of potato diseases like potato blight, scab, Verticillium wilt, leaf roll virus, Rhizoctonia, bacterial ring rot, and a number of viruses.[1]

Whether somebody eats a baked potato at home or in a fast food restaurant as fries, the chances are high it was grown from a seed potato grown from a Pemberton-grown seed potato first.[2]

Pemberton - a 30 minute hair raising mountain drive north of the Whistler ski resort. One road in and one road out with lots of hairpin turns, including one particularly memorable one where the advisory speed limit is 20 km/h (12 mph). Check your brakes before you go. Don’t bring any potatoes.

Footnotes