Separate field trials will also be conducted this summer in Maine. The potato is the most widely grown vegetable in the world. About 1.4 million acres of land in the U.S. are used to produce potatoes each year. Soft rot affects tubers while in storage or in the soil prior to harvest and can cause decay to seed tubers or seed pieces after planting. Soft rots also cause the decay of numerous other fleshy fruits and vegetables, such as cucumbers, onions, tomatoes, and lettuce, and some ornamental plants, such as iris.
Soft rot can cause extensive damage to potatoes in storage within a few hours.
The experiments conducted to test efficacy of soft rot protection indicated that those tubers which contain and express the Demeter genes almost totally resist rotting. This is a highly significant result that has not been achieved before. The potatoes for this experiment were grown in a greenhouse. Current control of bacterial soft rot of vegetables is based almost exclusively on sanitary growing and storage practices. Chemical sprays are generally not recommended for the control of soft rots.