NIpotato men face tighter regulations on farm-saved seed
NIpotato men face tighter regulations on farm-saved seed
By Andrew Swallow
NEW restrictions limiting the use of farm-saved potato seed to just one year in Northern Ireland have met a mixed response among growers.
The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development says the ruling aims to improve the quality of ware potatoes and protect the plant health status of Ulsters whole potato industry, especially seed production.
Reversing the decline in NIs seed industry, which has plummeted from 4000ha in 1990 to an expected 900ha this year, is a key aim. Meeting an EU plant health directive and improving ware production standards are other goals.
But some growers fear the ruling will allow seed producers and merchants to raise seed prices. Even if seed prices do not rise, loss of second year home-saved seed will cost others dearly.
"It will make it much more expensive for us to grow potatoes," says FW barometer farmer Mark McFerran. Seed cost for his 11ha (27 acres) of Navan potatoes, grown for local chip shop trade, is about £150/ha (£60/acre) having been multiplied up twice from super elite seed bought in two years ago, he calculates.
"Even though we are two years down the line I believe it is still SE quality." All of it would fall foul of the new regulations which come into force on Dec 31.
But others have welcomed the changes, saying it will raise the standard of potato production whether for ware or seed.
"We should be planting certified seed every year," says Brian Lilburn, who grows about 180ha (450 acres) of ware for pre-pack near Moira, Co Down. "This will take some of the cowboys out of the system."
Processing and pre-pack grower Geoffrey Peters can see both sides of the argument. "It is certainly in the growers interest to plant healthy seed, but what concerns me is the way in which some varieties are tied up with individual merchants."
DARDs Brian Gallagher says potentially 80% of growers in the province could be affected by the ruling, which will cost growers an average £2000 a year more, he admits. But that should be recouped in better returns in the long run. "Growers will be able to sell more or produce more."
An Ulster Farming Union proposal that all ware should be grown from certified seed stimulated the ruling, says Mr Gallagher. *
Mainland change?
The NI ruling will put tighter seed restrictions on ware growers than in most of England and Wales. Only in the high grade seed growing areas of Scotland and the north of England are standards similar, says BPC Seed Sector Group chairman Jim Cruickshank. Seed source legislation for the rest of the country is unlikely, he believes.
NISPUDSEED CHALLENGE
• No second year FSS.
• Better seed and ware aim.
• Growers fear costs.
Farm-saved potato seed is to be limited by law in Northern Ireland. But mainland restrictions seem unlikely, says BPC.