Section 2-1-3-01-124.05 - Inspection requirements1. Two or more inspections, while growing in the field, must be made of sweet potatoes; provided that only one inspection is required of varieties, which are known to be highly resistant to sweet potato diseases. One or more inspections shall be made of all seed sweet potatoes in storage and one or more plant bed inspections.2. All fields worked with the same implements and teams shall be considered as one property for the purpose of certification or determination of the proper grade. Areas separated by roads, fences or other barriers which the district entomologist considers satisfactory shall be considered separate fields and the finding of any disease whatever in any field shall prevent any sweet potatoes produced on that property from being classed as Grade A. If more than 50% of the sweet potato acreage of a property fails to pass inspection, the entire property shall be condemned, unless special conditions exist, which in the judgment of the district entomologist warrant the certification of a smaller percentage of the acreage.3. The storage house or other place, if previously used for storing sweet potatoes, shall be thoroughly cleaned and disinfected before the new crop is stored.4. If certified seed are stored in a building with other sweet potatoes, they must be separated by a solid wall or walls from all other potatoes. The grower must make such arrangements as are necessary for the seed sweet potatoes to be easily accessible for inspection, or no inspection for certification will be made.5. The finding of black rot, scurf, soil rot, or nematodes on any sweet potatoes in a storage house or other place where seed potatoes are stored will prevent any potatoes therein from being classed as Grade A.6. At bedding time, seed sweet potatoes shall be carefully handculled, discarding all potatoes showing black rot, scurf, soil rot, or other diseases, and then treated with a disinfectant approved by the Bureau of Plant Industry. If an old bedding location is used, all of the old soil must be removed and hauled away from the bedding site and the remaining soil treated with a formaldehyde solution prepared by mixing 1 gallon of 40 percent formaldehyde solution in 50 gallons of water and approximately 1 gallon of the diluted mixture applied to each square foot of soil. All of the framing of the bed should be thoroughly soaked also. The treated area should be covered with wet sacks and kept wet for a period of 48 hours. The sacks should then be removed and the soil allowed to dry for approximately 10 days to 2 weeks. A temperature of approximately degrees F or above will be needed for aeration, and a temperature of 50 degrees F or above is necessary for application of the chemical for best results. After treatment is completed, new soil should be placed back in the bed from a noncontaminated source.7. Plants must be produced from certified seed which has been inspected, handculled, and disinfected as prescribed. Failure to disinfect seed at bedding shall make plants ineligible for certification and issuance of certificate tags and tape. If it is discovered after the issuance of tags and tape, such tags and tape will be recalled.8. The location and material of the plant beds must be approved by a Bureau of Plant Industry district entomologist. If lumber used in the construction of the beds has been previously used for the same purpose, it must be thoroughly disinfected by being allowed to soak for at least thirty minutes in a solution of copper sulphate, one pound in 25 gallons of water or the formaldehyde solution mentioned in paragraph 5 above, or other disinfectant approved by the Bureau of Plant Industry.9. Whenever black rot or soil rot is found in sweet potatoes in storage on any property, the handculling, disinfection and bedding of such potatoes shall be done under the supervision of a Bureau of Plant Industry district entomologist. All plants produced on such properties or from such seed must be dipped in a Bordeaux mixture composed of 20 pounds hydrated lime, 20 pounds copper sulphate (bluestone) and 50 gallons water, or other disinfectant approved by the Bureau of Plant Industry.10. All tools needed in the construction of plant beds, and which have previously come in contact with materials used in old beds, shall be dipped in a solution of the copper sulphate or other approved solution.11. Beds generally infected with black rot, stem rot, or other serious disease will be condemned and sale of plants prohibited.12. If black rot or stem rot is found in a limited portion of a bed, the infected potatoes and the soil covering them, and the soil and potatoes not less than two feet from the outermost limits of the infection in all directions must be removed from the infected bed under the supervision of a district entomologist of the Bureau of Plant Industry and the spot from which soil and potatoes were removed thoroughly disinfected with a solution of copper sulphate prepared by using 1 pound of copper sulphate in 25 gallons of water; or by soaking the affected area with formaldehyde using one quart of formaldehyde in 12 gallons of water. Keep the affected area covered with wet sacks for a period of 48 hours. All plants sold thereafter from the grower's bed must be dipped in the 20-20-50 Bordeaux mixture previously mentioned, or other disinfectant approved by the Bureau of Plant Industry.13. If a plant grower beds both Grade A and Mississippi Certified seed potatoes, all of the plants certified for him shall be Mississippi Certified Grade.14. Where more than one variety of sweet potatoes are grown, each variety must be separated in the field a distance of at least fifteen (15) feet, and stored separately in storage and bedded in separate beds. If found mixed in field, storage, or seed beds, such mixtures shall automatically cause the potatoes to be classed as Mississippi Certified Grade and certificate tags issued as mixed varieties.15. Anyone not growing certified seed, but who wished to sell plants may purchase certified seed from a certified grower and bed them. At time of purchase, he must obtain from the certified grower a certificate tag as proof of source of seed, so the source of seed and bedding location may be approved by a district entomologist of the Bureau of Plant Industry. Such plant grower would be subject to the same requirements of other growers outlined in this regulation.2 Miss. Code. R. 1-3-01-124.05
Miss. Code Ann. § 69-25-7