Stark warning for Scottish growers using imported seed potatoes

Ware potato producers in Scotland were given a stark warning that using imported seed could lead to a long-term loss for short term gain in the wider industry. At stake is the hard-won reputation of Scotland’s lucrative seed potato trade and industry specialists lined up to pan those using imported seed at AHDB’s Seed Potato Industry event in St Andrews. Imported seed could put the UK’s £150m per year seed trade at considerable risk from diseases such as brown rot and ring rot, both of which are not found in the UK but in some areas from where the seed is being imported from. Dr Ron Clayton, AHDB Potatoes’ strategy manager, said that his organisation will be hammering home to producers that they have a key role to play in protecting the industry. He also pledged to work closely with the seed potato sector and Scottish Government to ensure that the industry maintains low levels of the fungal disease, blackleg, announcing that there would be £300,000 pumped into a project aimed at producing a blueprint for controlling the disease. More