Increased overseas demand for British-grown seed potatoes has drawn the Potato Council from Britain, one of the biggest seed-exporting countries in the world, to represent exporters at
Fruit Logistica 2010.
Announcing the decision to attend the world-renowned exhibition, Potato Council head of seed and export Mark Prentice said Fruit Logistica was well-established, featured over 2000 industry exhibitors from the fresh produce industry and each year attracted 50,000 visitors from over 120 countries.
Britain, widely acknowledged for its high quality seed potatoes, exported in 2009 over 90,000 tonnes to 50 countries, making it one of the biggest seed exporters in the world.
“The reasons for this success are clear,” says Mr Prentice. “The seed growing areas of Scotland and northern England experience the cool climate and higher wind speeds required to reduce the numbers of aphids and so limit virus transmission. These areas have been designated an EU Community Grade region, safeguarding their high health status.
“Additionally, rigorous seed certification and inspection standards are applied. Both the land and crops are tested and inspected – twice during the growing season, and then again post-harvest by government officials. British seed is also labelled with unique reference numbers, making it traceable to the field in which it was grown and to the parent stocks,” stresses Mr Prentice.
There are over 150 potato varieties available from British exporters – for table use, French fries, chips and processing – and a comprehensive Variety Database is available to view in French, Russian, Spanish and Arabic on the Potato Council website at
www.potato.org.uk/varieties.
See in the PotatoPro Event Section what other companies servicing the potato industry are exhibiting at Fruit Logistica.