Brazil allows more Scottish seed potatoes

Brazil is already opening the border with a small volume of seed potatoes from the United Kingdom, but the seed potato sector would like to increase this. To this end, meetings have taken place between the two governments, which are intended to simplify the rules for imports. A new series of meetings will follow in January to see if the sampling of British seed potatoes for Brazil can be improved. Research institute AHDB, financed by the government and growers, is behind this initiative.

Importance of the Netherlands
For the Dutch seed potato sector, Brazil is, after Cuba, the most important export country in South America. In 2016, 4.300 tons of seed potatoes were exported to Brazil. A year earlier that was 4.400 tons.

This level is significantly higher than in previous years. Then the purchase fluctuated between 2.500 and 2.800 tons. Last season, the British seed potato sector shipped 200 tons to the country. It therefore does not yet pose a threat to Dutch sales.

China and Kenya
The Scottish seed potato sector is keen to expand its position. For example, the James Hutton Institute is working with the Chinese province of Shandong to build a research center for starting materials there. This involves €3,3 million. Together with AHDB, the institute is also investigating options for growing local seed potatoes in Kenya.

Egypt's largest destination
Between June 2016 and June 2017, the British seed potato sector exported almost 100.000 tonnes of product. That is a comparable volume to last year, but considerably less than the 130.500 tons in the 2014-2015 season. Almost 60% of all seed potatoes are sold to Egypt, followed by Morocco with 7,6%.

The Netherlands is in fifth place with almost 5%. For the Netherlands, Algeria is the largest African destination, followed by Egypt and Morocco.

The export of Dutch seed potatoes to Brazil. More graphs? Visit the Database.