b'field, leaving the tops on the onions, put-ting them in a pile and covering with a tarp.Most of the potato foliage in this field hadsenesced, but I did see one area in the fieldthathaddodderthatcoveredthepotatovines.Tuberswereuniformandofgoodsize. Most fields had some issues that we are notusedtoseeingsoabundantlyinNorthAmerica. Other fields had some aggressiveweeds, some that Im glad we dont have todealwithbecauseofthespinyortoxic Siphon tube irrigation of potatoes in Argentina. nature of the weeds. We were surprised tosee that pill bugs would cause damage in thetubersbyeatingtheareaaroundpotatoeyes. Of all the different insects I took pic-tures of, my kids favorite pictures were of aRhinoceros beetle in the potato field and ofleafcutterantsinaprocession,carryingpiecesofleavesmuchbiggerthantheywere. Whenitwasrainy,wespenttimeattheINTA facility in Ascasubi. During our timehere we were able to learn more about thepotatoresearchandExtensionprogramsthey were conducting and offer some rec- Field visit to see potatoes near Ascasubi, Argentina.ommendations.GaryandVivanaspenttime teaching laboratory methods that weuse in the United States for disease diagnosisto the Ascasubi staff. We had noticed nema-todes were an issue and they didnt haveany way to test for nematodes locally. Garytaught a simple method to do a quick test.Since potatoes are fairly new to this group,they are still learning techniques and meth-ods. At the end of our visit, Gary and I gavesome recommendations on how they couldimprove their potato production. We hopeourvisitprovidedthemwithsomegoodinformation to help increase quantity andquality of potato tubers to feed a world inneed of food.Teaching methods in the lab at INTA Ascasubi, Argentina.APRIL 2020 POTATO GROWER 19'