Valuable information on potato production practices, irrigation management, fertilization and pest and disease control has  culminated from research that has been conducted in South Africa over the past five decades. Up to now, the production  guidelines that was developed from this information was either published in leaflet or in book form. Publications such as the "Guide to potato production in South Africa" have been and still are very valuable reference guides  to producers. However, due to the fact that updating and printing of guidelines in book form is very time consuming and  costly, updated guides appeared quite infrequently. As a result, the latest production information is not always readily  available to end users (farmers). Furthermore, the number of field staff and extension personnel is continuously shrinking,  making it even more difficult to effectively transfer the latest developed knowledge to producers.   The aim of this multimedia software package is not to replace any of the printed guides, but rather to supplement it by  making production guidelines and the latest research results more timely available to farmers. It still contains production  guideline information in a condensed format, but has the added advantage that it can be rapidly updated as new information  becomes available. This will ensure that information reach end-users more timely. Martin Steyn  martin.steyn@up.ac.za  Acknowledgements The author hereby acknowledges the contributions by the authors of chapters in the "Guide to potato production in South  Africa" and "Handleiding vir Aartappelproduksie in Suid-Afrika". The information in this multimedia guide is largely based on  these two publications. Introduction