Potato growers urged to consider nematode threat when renting land

The technical challenges of coping with a reduced pesticide armoury were high on the agenda at a recent Potato Council Yorkshire Potato Day.

If you rent land, don't saddle yourself with soil-borne threats. Techniculture's Neil Pratt told growers at the event they needed to plan carefully and gather as much information about rented land as possible.

"Here in Yorkshire much of the crop is on rented land, but you don't need to go in blind. Risk management is essential, as the cost of failure is now devastating."

Tackling potato cyst nematode had become increasingly hard for those on the Yorkshire Wolds. "It's largely come about as a result of short potato rotations. If you look at the advice given in the past, making decisions based on short-term yield responses, rather than long-term population control, you'll understand why we've ended up with the mess we have."

Growers should seriously question the economics of renting infested land, and clean land was likely to be offered at a premium, which might be well worth paying.