News on The Potato Supply Chain from United Kingdom

Plant breeding business KWS marked its formal entry into potato breeding in the UK last week, with a demonstration of up-and-coming varieties and an outline of its key breeding objectives for the potato crop.

The UK seed potato industry is on a high as Potato Council has announced another record year for seed exports, with this year’s figures surpassing 103,000 tonnes. “This year, despite the testing conditions experienced by growers, we have achieved ano...

Researchers led by Professor Bruce Fitt, now at the University of Hertfordshire, have used modern DNA techniques on late nineteenth-century potatoes to show how the potato blight may have survived between cropping seasons after the Irish potato famine ...

Physiological ageing of Markies potato seed can deliver benefits in terms of crop development, yield, quality and storage potential in the north of England. That was the message from McCain commercial agronomist Rob Blades to potato growers attending ...

A "perfect storm"of misery is hitting the potato sector as lifting slips further behind and prices fail to offset poor yields and quality and rising production costs. Crop clearance is more than three weeks behind schedule, with just 24,000h...

Herbert Engineering is set to launch a optical sorting machine at Potato Europe. The Oculus is the next generation in high performance, compact, optical sorting for washed potatoes.

The days of a few big varieties dominating the potato market are over, with breeding programmes becoming more focused on delivering sustainable varieties for specific markets.

GB’s seed potato community will be coming together to keep up-to-date on plant health and variety breeding at this year’s Seed Industry Event at Crieff Hydro near Perth, Scotland on November 20.

Figures from the Potato Council Grower Panel Lifting Survey estimate that 16,000ha (13% of the total crop and 3,000ha greater than last week's estimate) was cleared to Friday 31 August, with the GB harvest running approximately three weeks behind last season.

Potato growers are invited to the first North West Potato Day to be held at Aston Grange, Aston, Runcorn, Cheshire on September 18 to discuss with the experts some of the challenges they have faced this year.

Smartphone App to predict potato yield PepsiCo and Cambridge University have joined forces to introduce mobile technology to crop planning, with a new smartphone app that will help farmers predict future harvests.

Damage awareness is one of the key topics to be discussed at the North of England Potato Day to be held at Headley Hill Farm, Tadcaster, Yorkshire on September 4.

Nearly £3-million has been invested into making northern Lincolnshire a central hub for the needs of some of the UK’s biggest potato sellers. Elsham Wold has just become the new headquarters for Arundel Kerr Produce Ltd (AKP Group), supplier to superm...

The Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute and CAFRE, Greenmount Campus have issued a further potato blight warning.

After an incredibly challenging season for potato growers, the ADAS Syngenta 2012 Potato Conference and Exhibition is perfectly timed to provide the essential new technical innovation and marketing inspiration for all growers, agronomists and potato industry specialists.

With bacterial disease blackleg posing a threat to Scottish seed potato crops for a second consecutive season, there was advice at Potatoes in Practice on managing the risk of spread during haulm destruction.

Figures from the Potato Council Grower Panel Lifting Survey estimate that 11,600ha (10%) was cleared to Friday August 10, compared with 12,500 ha (10%) the same week in 2011 and 13,000 ha (10%) in 2010.

Wet weather is once again favouring blackleg development in Scottish seed potato crops, although disease levels are believed currently to be below the record levels seen in 2011.