Clean spud demand threatens Broads

20 July 2000



Clean spud demand threatens Broads

By FWi Staff

CONSUMER demand for clean looking potatoes is threatening the future of one of Britains most famous wetland areas, it is claimed.

The Norfolk Broads, which provides a home to a rich diversity of wildlife, depends on a constant flow of clean fresh water.

But this flow is diminishing because of increasing use of the water to irrigate potato crops, reports the BBC Radio 4 Farming Today programme.

The light soils of the area make it easier for farmers to meet customers preferences for clean looking potatoes in supermarkets.

Spray irrigation reduces the quantity of water coming downstream and increases the quantity of saltwater which penetrates upstream.

This concerns Dr Martin George, chairman of the Broads Society.

He said: The Broads is a predominantly freshwater system and we would not wish to see it become a brackish, let alone a saline system.

Consumers wanting a clean crop perhaps have no idea that by demanding this are putting pressure on farmers to grow spuds on very light land.

The problem is made worse because the area has some of the lowest rainfall levels in the country.

• Trickle system scores highly in irrigation trial, FWi, 23 October 1998
• Government boost for Broadlands, FWi, 12 November 1997