Scottish seed potato exports to Egypt soar despite turmoil

There may be political turmoil in the Middle East but Scottish seed potato exports to that part of the world have just risen to new heights.

Yesterday, Mark Prentice, head of seed and exports with the Potato Council, confirmed that exports of Scottish seed to Egypt this season have ended up at 39,961 tonnes, almost double the export figure of only five years ago and almost 10,000 tonnes above last year's total.

The new record figures were achieved despite the harsh weather in December which brought delivery problems that were only solved with the Scottish Government negotiating an extension to the normal deadline delivery date.

The rapid expansion in the Egyptian market has been achieved after a great deal of work linking in with their seed multiplication programmes, which in turn fuels their ware markets, some of the produce of which comes back into the European Union.