UK's Safe Haven scheme protects potato supply chain

The future sustainability of the potato supply chain is at risk from increasing threats from new organisms that can potentially devastate a crop.

“Quarantine organisms like Ring Rot cause 100 per cent loss of a crop, and the costs don’t stop there. Safe disposal and a thorough cleaning up also have to be paid for by the grower,” says Mr Prentice. “There is no insurance cover for this kind of loss, so it is vital the industry protects itself.”

The Safe Haven scheme was set up to create a secure supply chain offering the best possible protection, by not allowing the introduction of bacterial Ring Rot. It also offers good protection from other non-established bacterial diseases.