Potato Review

www.potatoreview.com POTATO REVIEW SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2019 41 REVIEW: POTATOES IN PRACTICE Of course, it wasn’t all about chemistry loss, there was also discussion on potato nutrition with Stu Baker from AHDB focusing on how to ensure consumers are clear on just how healthy an option the potato can be. He highlighted the newly formed Food Advisory Board, which is a key part of AHDB’s efforts to counteract misleading media reports into potato nutrition. Consisting of respected scientists, this panel will offer authoritative comment on health-related food research and media articles (not just on potatoes but also meat and dairy) to make sure the debate is not skewed by one-sided or unbalanced reporting. There was also discussion around potato diseases, and in particular PCN. In Scotland the amount of land infected with PCN has been increasing and although 50% of production uses varieties resistance to the rostochiensis species (such as Maris Piper), the industry is not currently using varieties which are resistant to the pallida species, which is currently on the rise. (Maris Piper is highly susceptible to pallida). SASA’s Dr Jon Pickup explained: “We now have 6,000 ha infected with pallida in Scotland, which is a 160% increase over nine years. “It’s vital that we start using these more resistant varieties if we want to slow, or even stop that rise.” Leaders in their field w. www.cockerill.co.uk t. 01904 481111 a. RS Cockerill York Ltd, Dunnington York, YO19 5AE 00402 Potato Review 188x65 ad FINAL.indd 1 30/06/2014 15:37 Of course, the spectre at every feast these days is Brexit, and while Julian Bell of SAC Consulting outlined the potential risks of a no deal, Louise Sutherland of Red Tractor focused on how changes to the Safe Haven Standards could potentially strengthen the industry whatever the future holds. New standards for consultation cover areas such as water use, storage best practice and traceability, and with these changes the scheme will be extended to also cover Brown Rot and Epitrix on top of the existing coverage of Ring Rot and Dickeya. “These standards have done an excellent job of protecting the industry from key diseases for many years,” Louise said. “However, times are changing, we have Brexit and our future trading relationships to consider, as well as new pest and disease threats. We believe we have made sensible additions to the current scheme which will not be onerous for scheme members to abide by. “The standards will be open for industry consultation from 19th August until 4th October, and we hope to gather a wide range of responses from both the seed and ware sector, before we review the feedback, finalise and launch them in spring 2020.” During the event the James Hutton Institute signed a cooperation agreement with the Institute of Vegetables and Flowers, part of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences. IVF-CAAS is the largest national agricultural research institution undertaking agricultural research in China on flowers and vegetables including potato. “We now have 6,000 ha infected with pallida in Scotland, a 160% increase over nine years. It’s vital that we start using these more resistant varieties if we want to slow or stop that rise.”