News on The Potato Supply Chain

David Douches, a professor in the Department of Plant, Soil and Microbial Sciences and director of the MSU Potato Breeding and Genetics Program, has been at the forefront of the potato’s transition as people get more adventurous with their eating habits.

Manitoba’s potato sector is gearing up to supply an expanding industry but seed supplies will be tight after a tough harvest last season. A number of producers are planning capital upgrades to keep up with the rise in demand.

The legal battle between a number of potato farmers in Gujarat accused of illegally growing a proprietary variety and food and beverage manufacturer PepsiCo India may be headed for an out-of-court settlement.

UK vegetable harvesting and handling equipment manufacturer, Scotts Precision Manufacturing, is celebrating after receiving its biggest ever order from Canada.

The latest estimates from the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) show British potato stock levels were down 13 per cent on the five-year average. However, comparable to other tight supply seasons, they were a little higher.

Spring is just now beginning to shine in much of eastern Oregon and Washington. A winter of record snowfall left the ground frozen or flooded much later than normal. As a result, farmers are getting a late start on their crops.

The opening of a new potato processing plant in Engineer town, Nyandarua county (Kenya) offers new opportunities for local potato farmers.

The Environment Agency in the UK has already declared irrigation prospects ‘moderate to poor’ in the East of England – in Cambridgeshire, Suffolk, Norfolk and Essex. AHDB offers suggestions to place farmers in a stronger position this summer.

Potato growers near Pemberton in Western Australia have been forced to leave more than a thousand tonnes of potatoes on the ground to rot because of oversupply and crippling low prices.

Leading farmers unions and rights advocacy groups have demanded that the PepsiCo immediately withdraw all legal suits it has slapped on many potato farmers in different districts of Gujarat.

Irish potatoes have prevented another major humanitarian food crisis in one of the poorest and most remote parts of Ethiopia, according to aid organization Concern Worldwide.

The NEPG (North-Western European Potato Growers) have estimated that the upcoming area for
consumption potatoes in 2019 will increase between 1 and 2 % towards almost 604.000 ha in the 5
main production countries.

ARS Researchers studied potato tubers from the Klamath Basin in Oregon infected with the causal bacteria of zebra chip disease. They confirmed the presence of the pathogen but did not identify the sample as one of the six known varieties (haplotypes).

Tong Engineering designed and custom-built a seed potato grading facility for B&C Farming, based on the company's current and future requirements as specified by managing director Tony Bambridge

PepsiCo has sued three potato farmers in Gujarat complaining that they have been illegally growing and selling a variety of potato exclusively registered to Pepsico for the use of producing its Lays potato chips.

OC Verhulst, since many years the manufacturer of air handling units of outstanding quality, found Mooij Agro as her partner to sell and support the VaccTek® Condenser Dryer; the all-in-one machine for the storage of agricultural crops.

The UK’s approach to weed management investment needs to be overhauled, if the needs of industry are to be met. That was the conclusion of the first ever major cross-sector review of weed management, commissioned by AHDB and BBRO.

A New Brunswick-grown industry partnership will see Grand Falls host an all-new edition of the major farming trade show AgriExpo this summer.