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 the Potato Council’s North of England Potato Event at Tadcaster.

Presenting the results of four years of McCain trials with physiologically-aged seed, Mr Blades said some of the best results had been achieved with chipping variety Markies in the north of England.

He advised growers who were thinking about trying physiologically-aged Markies seed for the first time to try it on up to 50 per cent of their acreage.