“As I’ve got no skin (set or otherwise) in the game, I’m always a bit wary about talking tatties in this column – but a visit to last week’s Potatoes in Practice event certainly highlighted the fact that there’s a lot going on in the relatively exclusive sphere of potato production and politics,” writes Brian Henderson in an op-ed article titled “AI steps in to save Scottish potatoes“, published by The Scottish Farmer.
Henderson goes on to say, “And it looks like it’s becoming increasingly exclusive – with a mixture of some hellish harvesting seasons, a run of poor prices, and the increasing threats from pests and diseases alongside a shrinking armoury of effective control measures, topped off by sky-rocketing machinery and equipment costs all combining to see a lot of growers quitting the market.
“While a global reputation sees Scottish seed spuds reach many different countries, the debacle which has seen Scottish seed pretty much excluded from sale to EU countries in the wake of the Brexit settlement has probably been partly responsible for the change in the balance of production – with the seed area falling to around 10,000ha while ware production has shifted upwards to around 18,000ha.
“But the story which The Scottish Farmer broke a week or two back about the compulsory burn-down orders levelled on a number of ware producers due to high level of virus infection has probably added a new chapter to the sector’s troubles – and likely done little to encourage the industry-wide collaboration which is being called for to ensure the industry’s future.”
Source: The Scottish Farmer. Read the full story here
Image: Credit Wolfgang Eckert from Pixabay
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