GB Potatoes funds the FAB project for 3 years, boosting UK efforts to monitor and combat potato late blight. Led by James Hutton Institute, FAB provides vital real-time insights on blight strains and resistance, strengthening sector resilience.

The 2025 Hutchinsons Potato Trials Results Day at Worth Farms, Lincolnshire, showcased key field trials and research to help tackle major potato industry challenges, including PCN, herbicide safety, wireworm, catch crops, blight, and Alternaria.

Meeting the challenges will be the focus of the 26th annual gathering in Dundee of the country’s leading potato producers and the companies that support them.

Prof Ian Toth, a distinguished figure in the potato research community, has been appointed as the new President of the European Association for Potato Research (EAPR).

Potato industry challenges posed by PCN and blackleg were among the topics discussed at the recent Cambridge University Potato Growers’ Association (CUPGRA) annual conference.

An international research team featuring the James Hutton Institute has shed further light on the evolution and biology of potatoes as a genetically complex global food crop.

Seed breeders work closely with potato growers to develop desirable agronomic traits, and with the wider supply chain for those crucial characteristics such as dry matter distribution, sugar formation, and storability.

Recent advances in breeding technologies can be harnessed to fast track the breeding of new varieties. Sensors and drone technologies are driving integrated pest management solutions.

After the Plant Health Centre led a working Group to identify a clear strategy for dealing with the Potato Cyst Nematode (PCN) crisis, a report was delivered to the Scottish Government.