Growers warned of potato disease threat

THE chairman of the Potato Council yesterday described dickeya solani, the bacterial disease which has entered Scotland, as the "elephant in the room" for the seed potato industry.

Allan Stevenson was addressing delegates at a seed industry event in Crieff, when he underlined just how concerned he was over the arrival of this highly infectious disease in some of the main potato growing areas of Scotland.

He was critical of those growers who had allowed seed to be brought in from England especially those who claimed it was "not their fault as the seed had been pre-tested or that their customer made them do it".

Leaving little room for doubt about his opinion on this, he said: "This is nonsense and shows a lack of personal responsibility judgement and ownership.

"Do not blame anyone other than yourself if you do not know the provenance of the seed and you and your customers end up with a plant health problem." While the focus is now in the seed sector to ensure dickeya does not make any progress in Scotland, he added that the whole potato industry in the UK had something to lose if the health standards in the potato crop slipped.

He advised landowners and land agents to carry out due diligence checks on growers before they let land. Apart from avoiding the spread of disease and the possibility of litigation if any disease was subsequently found, Stevenson pointed out the importance of keeping productive land in use in these days when food security was an increasing issue.

He advocated all growers should take advantage of the voluntary Safe Haven scheme which builds on the basis of high specification Scottish seed working its way down into the industry rather than importing seed from outside sources.

While dickeya had hit the headlines, Stevenson said there were other diseases lurking in the wings which might impact on this country if they became established.

Soft rots and other forms of blackleg would adversely affect the export trade which has risen in value by 30 per cent in the past decade.

At the same time, importing countries are setting the health bar even higher.

Turkey for example has set zero tolerances on some diseases.and exporters are working with authorities to get a workable solution to this barrier.

Delegates heard examples of how cross border trade could decimate the potato industry. The arrival of the quaintly named but potentially very damaging, Zebra chip pathogen has all but demolished the New Zealand industry.

There are no human health risks with this disease but the zebra stripes on the skin make the potatoes unsaleable.

New Zealanders have traditionally exported their seed to Australia but the Aussies are now wary of any importation of disease coming in.