Current through Register Vol. 42, No. 11, August 30, 2024
(1) The term Alabama Certified shall have
reference to the sweet potato seed and sweet potato plants meeting the
requirements for certification as provided herein.
(2) Certified sweet potato seed and sweet
potato plants will be those found to be apparently free of pests in the field,
plant bed, and in storage. Certification will be denied for sweet potato seed
and sweet potato plants in which pest problems are detected which present a
potential hazard to the sweet potato industry and which cannot be adequately
cleaned up to the satisfaction of the commissioner.
(3) Standards for certification shall include
no apparent stem rot, black rot, mosaic, sweet potato weevils, pox, mixed
varieties, or mutations and only one percent (1%) nematodes or scurf will be
allowed.
(4) No sweet potato seed
certification tags will be issued to a grower unless two (2) or more
satisfactory inspections of his stock have been made--at least one (1) field
inspection and at least one (1) storage inspection. In addition, plants must
pass at least two (2) plant-bed inspections before sweet potato plant
certificate tape and sweet potato plant certificate tags can be issued.
Certificate tags and tape required herein shall be furnished by the
commissioner at a reasonable cost.
(5) The commissioner reserves the right to
revoke certification and to recall all outstanding certificate tags and tape
for failure to comply with these regulations, for misuse of tags or tape, or
upon finding pests in fields, storage, plant beds, or sales outlets.
(6)
(a) All
fields subject to certification must be identified by the agent of the
Commissioner or Agriculture in a clean state of cultivation and otherwise
amenable to inspection. Inspection will not be conducted for fields of mixed
varieties, fields considered to be too overgrown with weeds, nor fields not
readily accessible to inspection. One (1) field inspection will be required for
sweet potato varieties that are known to be highly resistant to stem rot. Two
(2) field inspections, not less than fifteen (15) days apart, will be required
for varieties susceptible to stem rot. Each field subject to certification must
be inspected and trapped at the rate of 1 (one) trap per 10 (ten) acres.
Certified plants produced from certified seed must be used in order to be
eligible for certification. A 50 foot barrier must be maintained around each
field that is to be certified.
(b)
The sweet potato producer shall be responsible for rogueing fields of off
types, mutations, intermixed varieties, as well as stem rot and mosaic infected
plants.
(c) Sweet potato producers
shall be required to report to the commissioner all detections of sweet potato
weevils, black rot and other serious pests of sweet potatoes upon
detection.
(d) Sweet potato
producers are encouraged to use pest control recommendations in the field
provided by the Alabama Cooperative Extension Service, or other effective,
properly labeled pesticides which may be available.
(e) All sweet potato seed must be produced
from transplanted sprouts cut from the plant bed or from vine cuttings;
however, sweet potato seed may be produced from sprouts pulled from the plant
bed if such are treated with approved pesticides prior to planting.
(7)
(a) At least one (1) inspection shall be
conducted of all sweet potato seed while in storage, not less than thirty (30)
days after the sweet potato seed entered the storage facility. The storage
facility, if previously used for storing sweet potatoes, shall be thoroughly
cleaned and disinfected by approved methods before another crop is stored. The
grower must make necessary arrangements so that sweet potato seed subject to
certification and are accessible for inspection are clearly separated 36 inches
from uncertified sweet potato seed and are properly identified as to
variety.
(b) Sweet potato seed
producers are encouraged to use pest control recommendations in storage
provided by the Alabama Cooperative Extension Service, or other effective,
properly labeled pesticides which may be available.
(c) Sweet potato seed shall be stored in
facilities above ground which are well lit, and allow proper aeration, curing,
and maintenance throughout the storage period.
(8)
(a)
Sweet potato plants subject to certification must be produced from certified
sweet potato seed. Such plants shall be maintained separate from uncertified
plants which may be produced for use on the farm where produced. Sweet potato
seed shall not be bedded in an area known to have been exposed to contamination
with pests or in an area used in the production of sweet potatoes or sweet
potato plants during the previous three (3) years, unless effective pest
control measures have been implemented to the satisfaction of the commissioner.
At least one (1) inspection will be made of plants in the plant bed after the
plants are above ground, and another at least fifteen (15) days later.
Additional inspections may be made if deemed advisable by the commissioner. Any
condition that causes deterioration of sweet potato plants to an appreciable
extent, or mixed varieties to any extent, in any bed shall be just cause for
the commissioner to refuse or to suspend certification. The commissioner is
authorized to destroy sweet potato plants and sweet potato seed as necessary to
maintain apparent freedom from pests.
(b) Sweet potato plant producers are
encouraged to use pest control recommendations in the plant bed provided by the
Alabama Cooperative Extension Service or other effective, properly labeled
pesticides which may be available.
(c) The area immediately around plant beds
shall be maintained in a clean and weed-free condition.
(d) All plant beds shall be cleaned and all
crop residue destroyed or properly disposed of as soon as possible after the
last pulling, but in no event shall this take place beyond 45 days of the last
pulling, except when such plant beds are treated with approved pesticides, so
that there is no regrowth and all sweet potato seed in the plant bed
decays.
Author: Charles H. Barnes, Robert J.
Russell
Statutory Authority:
Code of Ala.
1975, §§
2-25-1,
et
seq.
