The parties in the seed potato chain in Scotland must cooperate more with each other in order to strengthen and improve the cultivation and sale of Scottish seed potatoes. The development of the seed potato sector in Scotland is declining. To keep the chain viable, collective action is necessary for more innovation and market knowledge.
This is the conclusion of a report from the Scottish consultancy organization SAOS, Scottish media report. It states that the seed potato sector in Scotland is at a crossroads. The country, part of the United Kingdom, has a total of 186 seed potato growers. The area, which has already decreased in recent years to approximately 10.500 hectares this year, may decrease further. This creates a situation in which the knowledge, network and research of the seed potato sector continue to crumble. Building up makes it even more difficult, according to the compilers.
No more paying taxes
The connection in the seed potato sector has largely disappeared when it was decided to no longer pay levies to the AHDB. This British government organization, a kind of product board, was concerned with collective matters such as access to (new) export markets, promoting trade, providing market information and sharing knowledge of cultivation research. AHDB decided to stop at the beginning of 2021 and scaled down the seed potato activities until April 2022. As a result, grower associations and other parties in the chain had to take up these activities, but this has not gotten off the ground so far.
SAOS advisors insist that a collective chain organization is needed to further advance and re-energize the Scottish seed potato sector. Financing cultivation research must also be high on the agenda. But like other seed potato growers in Europe, they also encounter problems in the field in Scotland. The heat and drought led to problems last season and in previous years. The current growing season also got off to a false start, as excessive rainfall and a late spring (as in Western Europe) resulted in late planting dates in the northern part of the UK. Then a dry period, just like in our country, caused some headaches. Despite this, the potatoes have continued to grow reasonably well and the crop has partly recovered. Another part that started slowly is still in bloom.
Harvest expectations less positive
However, a fair amount of precipitation has fallen in recent weeks and phytophthora in the crop is a considerable burden for growers. The unsettled weather will continue for the time being, which makes the situation in the field more tense. In any case, expectations about returns are not very positive, although no clear figures are known. With a smaller area and the difficult growing season, a below-average yield is obvious in any case.