A new strain of bacterial potato wilt has reduced interstate markets for some Far North Queensland growers.
The disease, which has been found in small patches at Tolga and on parts of the Atherton Tablelands, will prevent growers within a 20-kilometre radius of the infection from exporting to Tasmania, South and Western Australia, and parts of Victoria and NSW.
Potato grower David Nix says the quarantines mean more growers are sending produce to Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne.
"So all of their potatoes now will have to come back onto the Eastern seaboard market, which of course overloads that market, and it's reflected in prices and availablility,"he says.
