Scottish potato growers urged to source safe and healthy seed

Bacterial ringrot

December 20, 2011

Source

Scottish potato growers were yesterday reminded to exercise particular care in sourcing safe and healthy seed potatoes following the discovery of three cases of ring rot in the Netherlands.

The UK is free of the devastating bacterial disease, which can destroy 50 per cent of potato crops, and successfully eliminated the disease following an isolated outbreak in Wales in 2003.

The Dutch Foods and Products Authority has confirmed that ring rot has been found in ware potatoes at three premises in one region of South Holland as a result of a sample study of potato diseases. The suspicion is that illegally traded farm-saved seed is involved in these cases.