No-nonsense, no-frills potato news stories from around the world
The provincial government of Prince Edward Island (PEI) is announcing new funding for a project to support seed potato producers in adapting to ongoing trade suspensions by planting soil-building crops. The “Soil Building for Seed Producers Project” is a $3 million provincial investment into Prince Edward Island’s seed sector.
Despite the fact that the conflict in Ukraine is affecting HZPC’s sales, HZPC is keeping its profit forecast intact after three quarters in the 2021-2022 financial year. HZPC says it expects the volume of seed potatoes traded by HZPC and its licensees to reach a tonnage just above 900,000 tons, about the same as the tonnage in 2020-2021. For the entire fiscal year, HZPC expects to realize a turnover of 342 million euros (in 2020-2021 this was 314 million euros).
Teagasc, The Agriculture and Food Development Authority of the Republic of Ireland, has urged potato growers to contact seed producers now to organise fresh seed for the 2023 season, as the Brexit impasse shows no sign of easing. Advisers said the supply of seed for many varieties is tight this year.
Urgent government action has been demanded to prevent illegally-imported potatoes bringing a “grave risk” of pests and diseases into East Anglia. Warnings were raised in a national farming magazine last month that 1,000 tonnes of “small ware” Agria potatoes have been imported as uncertified seed potatoes for spring planting in west Norfolk, south Lincolnshire and Cambridgeshire.
As the risks from the climate crisis and global conflict increase, roughly 1,700 seed banks are increasingly considered a priceless resource that could one day prevent a worldwide food crisis, write Salomé Gómez-Upegui and Rita Liu in an extensive article published by The Guardian. One of these is the Potato Park, located in Pisac, Peru.
The health and success of Idaho’s staple crop is receiving renewed support with the launch of the new University of Idaho Seed Potato Germplasm Laboratory. As Emily Pearce reports for Moscow-Pullman Daily News, the $5.6 million lab opened its doors to the community with a ribbon-cutting ceremony Tuesday, complete with potato-themed desserts and guided tours of the new space.
Potato is an important food and nutritional security crop in sub-Saharan Africa. However, a quick look reveals a glaring challenge faced by farmers across the continent: limited access to quality seed potato. The situation is no different in Cameroon. But recent success in Kenya – supported by the International Potato Center (CIP) – holds great promise for Cameroon and other SSA countries.
Prince Edward Island potato farmers got a visit from the federal minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food on Saturday, March 26, who told them seed potato growers will be waiting at least another year for good news on the reopening of the market for exports to the U.S. “…the market will not open this year, and probably not next year as well,” she said.
A meeting of Scottish seed potato growers in Forfar the past week has agreed to set up a co-op to represent the sector. As John Sleigh reports for The Scottish Farmer, the new body, which is as yet unnamed, aims to deliver four outcomes for the seed potato sector; support development of markets; secure economic and environmental sustainability; fund research, innovation and more.
A deal to export 2,000t of Scottish seed potatoes to Russia has been scrapped by PepsiCo following criticism of the arrangement. As Ed Henderson reports for Farmers Weekly, the company said “a couple of lorries” had already left Scottish farms this week, but following discussion with growers, the decision had been made to stop future shipments.
Seed potato exporters have been told “very clearly” they should disinvest from Russia, a minister has said, following reports that 2000 tonnes of Scottish produce will be sent there. As Emer O’Toole reports for The National, Rural Affairs Secretary, Mairi Gougeon, said “We’ve led calls for businesses to disinvest from Russia as a result of the invasion of Ukraine.”
The Scottish government sparked fury after it approved a deal by PepsiCo to send seed potatoes to be planted Russia. In a £600,000 deal with Aberdeen’s Saltire Seed, 2,000 tons of seed potatoes will be delivered to Russian farmers by a convoy of 100 lorries.
Earlier this week (16 March) the European Parliament’s Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development held an “Exchange of views on the disruption in the EU-GB trade in seed potatoes” to which Europatat was invited to speak. Europatat used this opportunity to highlight the impact of there being no agreement on the European potato supply chain.
In 2022 the Lueneburg-based company EUROPLANT Pflanzenzucht GmbH celebrates its 30th anniversary. The EUROPLANT Group currently has more than 250 employees. It sells worldwide about 260,000 tonnes of seed potatoes, and 145,000 tonnes on the German market.
While repeated negotiations over the resumption of seed potato exports from the UK to the EU has made little headway, a leading civil servant told delegates there was another avenue to be explored. Professor Gerry Saddler, Scotland’s chief plant health officer, told Scottish Agronomy’s annual conference in Perth that an arrangement which allows limited amounts of Canadian seed potatoes into the EU could form a template for a Scottish deal.
Central Plains Group (CPG), a Scottish-based farming company, has boosted exports of specialist agricultural equipment and potato seeds after receiving a £2.2 million package from UK Export Finance (UKEF) and Credit Agricole. CPG is now harvesting 40,000 tonnes of potatoes in its operations in Ukraine thanks to the deal and can fulfil several multimillion-pound contracts across Eastern Europe.
A Kilkenny company specialising in clean plant technology is aiming to help develop and grow the Irish seed potato industry. As a result of Brexit, the EU has banned the importation of seed potato from the UK to Ireland under its plant health legislation. Last year, FitzGerald Nurseries was certified by the DAFM to produce pre-basic tissue culture mini tubers.
Scotland is particularly poorly served by the low standards of export facilities available at the country’s ports – its sub-standard transport and supply chain logistics have added to an already difficult situation for the country’s seed potato industry. This lack of comparable facilities and network infrastructure to those enjoyed by the competition in Holland and other European countries has stymied efforts to make good the loss of EU markets.
A valuable cargo of premium Scottish seed potatoes has reportedly been turned back from Egypt, at a cost traders estimate to be in the region of £1.5 million. It is understood 1,500 tonnes of Hermes seed potatoes from five or six suppliers is currently in limbo in Alexandria, after the load was rejected by Egyptian authorities because it failed to meet a December export deadline by one day.
Growers of ware potatoes in England and Wales are allowed to import seed potatoes directly from the Netherlands. At the request of the Dutch Potato Organization (NAO), the Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA) has investigated the possibilities for exporting Dutch seed potatoes to the United Kingdom.
Three Scottish National Party (SNP) MPs have written to the UK Government and the EU Vice-President urging both sides to remove Brexit-induced barriers regarding the export of Scottish seed potatoes to the European Union. They represent constituencies containing significant farming communities and have echoed the concerns of their constituents and NFU Scotland over the continuing obstacles farmers face in exporting seed potatoes because of Brexit.
Canadian potato company Québec Parmentier announced the acquisition of Ferme G. G. & A. Montminy, a renowned and large-scale seed potato producer located in the Péribonka region of Quebec. Being located in a ‘Protected Cultivation Zone’ gives it an undeniable advantage in terms of the quality of the seed potatoes produced. Pierre Chouinard, Chief Executive Officer of Québec Parmentier says the announcement marks a turning point in the history of Québec Parmentier.
When we hear the term ‘cellular agriculture’ these days, our minds typically wander to the production of cultivated meat and dairy. But similar techniques also have a part to play in growing fruits, vegetables, and other crops, writes Jack Ellis in an article published by AgFunder Network news. Ellis writes that South Korea’s E Green Global is starting out by creating potato seedlings from tissue cultures in the lab, and hopes to replicate the method with other crops in the near future.
Technico Agri Sciences Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of ITC Limited, is now a Great Place to Work-Certified company by the Great Place to Work Institute. The Certification is recognized around the world by employees and employers alike and is considered the ‘Gold Standard’ in identifying and recognizing Great Workplace Cultures.
According to a press release issued by USDA, the Government of the United Kingdom has asked USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) to authorize the importation of potato mini tubers into the United States and Territories. APHIS has drafted a pest risk assessment that describes potential pests associated with the commodity.
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