Potato News from Oceania

New Zealand potato breeder Plant and Food Research has added a new attractive purple skinned variety to its range, which may have added health benefits. With a vivid purple skin and distinctive speckled purple flesh inside, Purple Heart was one of 16 c...

TNA Australia says its operator training and maintenance courses help customers get the most out of their equipment.TNA’s operator training courses are said to endow machine operators with the skills needed to operate their equipment. The courses also ...

The official Closing ceremonies of the 7th World Potato Congress (WPC) at Christchurch, New Zealand, were highlighted by the presentation of the triennial Industry Awards. The awards recognize outstanding personal contribution and leadership, related ...

The chair of the World Potato Congress, being held in New Zealand, says producers will need to be ready to meet increased international demand and New Zealand in particular has room to do so.The seventh congress opened in Chirstchurch on Monday - the f...

The South Australian Potato Company says heat damage has left half of its crops with some level of damage. The company's business development coordinator, Julian Carbone, says white variety colliban suffered the most damage. He says the company has lo...

Caviar and champagne might be out, but the humble potato is reigning supreme in the recession. Sales of seed-potatoes have sky rocketed and a major distributor predicts demand from gardeners will be up 30 per cent for the coming season. At Fairfields ...

It's a long and winding road in search of the perfect crisp, but a Moutere couple have demonstrated that it can all be worth it. Alastair Paulin reports.The question of what makes the perfect potato chip sounds like the kind of idle musing that might h...

Tasmanian potato farmers are frustrated the vegetable processor Simplot has had to import potatoes [French Fries]from the United States to fill a shortfall caused by the drought. Simplot's Ulverstone plant in the state's north-west is operating 40,00...

McCain Foods says it might have to rely on other sources for its potatoes this season, after last week's heatwave ruined many of the crops near Ballarat.Most potato growers in the region sell their produce to the Ballarat-based frozen food company.The ...

Capitalising on the success of their snack bars, Australian health food company Slim Secrets is broadening their range of snack products to include potato chips. The launch is indicative of a push from manufacturers to improve the health content of t...

Hundreds of millions of [Australian] dollars may have been wiped off the incomes of potato growers in the Ballarat region because of last week's heatwave.Norm Suckling farms a property near Creswick, north of Ballarat.He estimates hundreds of tonnes of...

Ballarat district potato growers have been offered a 24 per cent increase to supply potatoes to McCain Foods this year. Growers received a letter last week from the Ballarat food processor stating the increase.It is believed the amount was agreed to ac...

The first consignments of potatoes to leave Victoria since the discovery of potato cyst nematode last year have been trucked to Canberra and Brisbane. Interstate trade was halted after the discovery of potato cyst nematode on a property at Thorpdale, t...

VICTORIA'S leading potato-growing district will not find itself locked out of interstate trade despite the discovery of a second property affected by a potato parasite. A massive testing effort since the original discovery had tested 550,000 soil sampl...

Western Australia's world class seed potato industry was in the spotlight during a recent a visit by Indonesian Government officials and industry specialists.The Indonesian visit was organised by the Department of Agriculture and Food.The department is...

Casual workers at McCain Foods Wendouree plant (Ballarat) will need to check with the company daily regarding shifts through to March, according to a union organiser. The AMWU's Angela McCarthy, who has responsibility for workers at the Ballarat food c...

A bid to synthetically produce a toxin that costs the Australian potato industry about $20 million annually might hold the key to beating the disease, Australian researchers say. Researcher Peter Molesworth, of the University of Tasmania's School of C...

A new, healthier variety of potato is set to take the Australian market by storm. Unlike most spuds, Almera is suitable for people who are diabetic or striving to maintain a healthy weight. Graham Liney, who lives about two hours from Canberra, in La...