Dickeya Solani potato disease prompts tough controls

All seed introduced to Scotland now has to be notified in advance and this allows a risk assessment to be undertaken. In most cases this will mean a pre-planting tuber test for the disease.

However, with an acknowledgment that testing only a few tubers doesn't guarantee freedom, the subsequent growing crops will also be closely monitored by inspectors.

These inspectors who are about to commence their field checks next week, will take samples from plants showing blackleg symptoms from all plantings of non-Scottish origin seed and also from 10 per cent of Scottish origin crops.

This move comes after an all- industry meeting between the Potato Council, NFU Scotland and British Potato Trade Association and the Scottish Government. The common aim was to consider ways to put into practice key measures that are aimed at protecting Scotland's high health status for potato production - and its valuable markets.

Although not a quarantine disease, Dickeya Solani is a new threat to the potato industry. In essence, it is a more aggressive form of blackleg with a wider optimum temperature range, and is now very common in mainland Europe.

Statistics show that losses in the Netherlands in 2007 amounted to around €25 million. Its presence in Britain is less well understood, but it is thought to be far less common, particularly in potatoes of British origin.

The industry also supported a 500,000, three year project on the disease. This is being funded on a 50:50 spit between Potato Council and the Scottish Government.

Potato Council chairman Allan Stevenson said the aim was to deliver answers to the threat of this disease to the British potato industry.

This will include a better understanding of the epidemiology of the pathogen, including the potential for survival in the wider environment, including watercourses.