Law change urged to halt eelworm threat

A legislative change to prohibit potatoes from being grown more than one year in six on any piece of land has been urged in the face of the huge tracts of Scottish arable land becoming infected with Potato Cyst Nematodes (PCN).

NFU Scotland vice president, Andrew Connon

Warning that Scotland’s seed potato and bulb sectors could be wiped out entirely by 2050 due to the spread of these eelworms, NFU Scotland vice president, Andrew Connon said that PCN already infested 13 per cent of land used for growing potatoes and bulbs.

“And with the area doubling every seven to eight years, then stronger measures must be considered,” said Connon, who was conveying the thoughts of the union’s potato working group.

“If PCN spread is allowed to continue, losses of £125 million are predicted by 2040, and this figure excludes job losses and impacts on exports and the wider GB food industry.”

Connon said that plant health had been identified as the potato working group’s biggest priority, and it had agreed that legislation was the best way to tackle the growing problem quickly.

“NFU Scotland is engaging with the wider potato growing membership to understand the impact of this change, explore how legislation could change, and identify exactly what sort of change is needed, recognising the impact that legislation could have on land availability,” said Connon.

He added that as the area available for growing seed shrank, higher rents were being charged – a fact which often led to shorter rotation intervals, creating ideal conditions for the pest to spiral out of control.