Greater use of contracts for free-market pre-pack varieties could establish more stable trading relationships between seed and ware potato growers, delegates were told at the British Potato Council’s Seed Potato Event in Crieff, Perthshire.

Ware growers would need to be educated to accept more flexibility in quality of seed stocks, while seed growers had to work hard to improve the consistency of supply, David Nelson, Branston field director, said.

Contracted production had significantly expanded in the ware sector in the past 10 years, but it remained scarce for free-market [older varieties no longer controlled by the breeder] seed stocks, he said.

“We want to do more contracted production of free varieties, but it would need us to manage the expectations of ware growers. They cannot expect the cheapest seed every year, and also consistently high quality.”

“Managed”

In future seed supplies would be more “managed”, agreed Anderson’s Jay Wootton. “It is inevitable, with ware growers going down the route of more and more planned supplies to their customers.”

The processing sector had already made huge strides in linking seed production in the supply chain. But, increasingly, pre-pack growers would want to establish more stable relationships, heforecasted.

“If you’re producing 1000t of Maris Piper for Branston you ought to be able to form a relationship with a seed producer to provide you with the seed of the right quality to do that.”

Contracts would be an important part of that process. “Clearly there will need to be more structure if managed supply is going to happen.”

Quality barrier

But one barrier to contracted production was concern over seed quality.

Advances had been made in the past 10 years through better storage, new seed and soil treatments, and reduced numbers of multiplications, Dr Nelson said. But diseases, particularly powdery and common scab remained “troublesome” in some years.

It meant ware growers needed to look carefully at which diseases were really important and could be managed, and incorporate a level of flexibility, he suggested.

Part of the problem was disease issues were often not evident until harvest and were difficult to predict when inspecting potential stocks in June, he noted. “We still lack the confidence to say these are the stocks we want. Customers delay buying seed to tight disease tolerances for fear of disappointment, while seed growers are reluctant to commit to supply to a tight specification because they are unsure they will be able to meet it.”

It led to growers hedging their bets and opting for dual-purpose seed and ware production, Dr Nelson said. However, the objectives for seed and ware crops clashed.

“For ware you’re usually looking for fewer, larger tubers, with low levels of disease, while for seed it’s large numbers of smaller tubers and no disease.”

Agronomy compromise

Agronomy, such as the use of irrigation, the timing of desiccation, harvesting and grading, usually ended up being compromised in dual-purpose production, he said.

More focused production, which would be encouraged through flexible contracts, would not only allow more innovation, but also reduce the costs of growing seed, he said.

“You could probably cut nitrogen costs by 50%. Lower nitrogen, earlier harvesting and less desiccation should also improvequality.”

Exclusive use of varieties by supermarkets would also accelerate supply chain integration, he suggested. “We’re going to see more varieties linked from seed through to ware growers, as in the processing sector.”

The supply chain had to become more integrated, agreed David Walker, BPC chairman. “Somebody has to grow seed potatoes, so we need partnerships that will drive sustainable returns. The supply chain needs to become interdependent on each other with enough trust to share forward plans.”

• To download all the presentations visit www.potato.org.uk and click on the “Seed” link

Related links:

• Branston
• Andersons
• British Potato Council