Pocket Diagnostic® Demonstration At Potato Council Seed Event.
On the 25th November 2014 leading plant disease experts from the Food and Environment Research Agency (FERA) will be conducting a workshop on pest and disease identification at the Potato Council Seed Industry Event. The workshop will be a hands-on session to explain best practice for disease identification utilising various techniques and technologies including the Pocket Diagnostic® rapid potato virus detection kits.
For many years FERA’s Plant Health Seed Inspectorate, now part of the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA), has been using Pocket Diagnostic® kits throughout the UK as part of their regulatory disease management responsibilities.
Pocket Diagnostic® kits enable easy and rapid testing of plant material in-the-field to identify pathogens such as Ralstonia solanacearum (Brown rot), Phytophthora or Potato virus Y (PVY). Once a pathogen has been detected using Pocket Diagnostic®, confidence can be taken that the next step in the disease management process can be carried out in accordance with guidelines related to dealing with the spread of, or eradication of, the specific pathogen that has been detected.
Another example of where this process is being used is in the UK’s fight against the spread of Phytophthora. In partnership with the Forestry Commission, APHA uses Pocket Diagnostic® as a quick screen for Phytophthora ramorum and Phytophthora kernoviae on trees and plants in woodland’s and on heritage sites across the UK.
We are extremely proud of the UK Government’s use of Pocket Diagnostic® in ensuring the UK continues to be a global leading producer of quality crops.