Potato sector officials say they’re working together to make sure key seed potato buyers in countries like Egypt, Morocco and Israel, get the right post-Brexit messages concerning product standards and quality. While customers in these countries choose British seed potatoes for various reasons, their number one buying criteria is the quality of UK produce, according to Sandy McGowan from Fife-based Cygnet PB. McGowan: “We’re an island nation, producing most of our seed…
Tasmania is the French fries capital of Australia. Six out of every ten of the tasty, golden-brown chips are grown and processed in this state. Water Minister Guy Barnett and Harvest Moon’s Mark Kable, recently finished a tour of Simplot’s French fry processing facility in Ulverstone. This more or less coincided with the federal government’s announcement on Thursday that the state had been listed as a national priority project for water and…
The government of the Netherlands and Dutch businesses have inked an agreement to undertake a “potato impact cluster” project in Bangladesh. The Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO) and a consortium of Dutch businesses joined hands to share their experience and best practices with potato farmers in Bangladesh to improve supply chain in potato sector of Bangladesh. An amount of Euro 900,000 has been allocated for this three-year project, said the Bangladesh Embassy in…
The humble potato may just be an important food for the future of space exploration. A recent experiment has taken place in the Peruvian capital of Lima. It saw a potato plant growing in conditions similar to what you might find on the surface of Mars. Experiments were conducted using Peru’s desert soil. Conditions were set up to mimic the harsh climate on Mars. These included an atmosphere rich in carbon dioxide….
After 20 years of biotechnological research, the first GMO potato that is resistant to the PVY virus is said to go on sale to the public next year in Argentina. The potato’s productive and economic benefits are estimated at 45 million dollars per year in the Argentine market alone. This transgenic potato is the result of an achievement by Technoplant, a subsidiary of the Sidus group of companies. On August 8 of…
State farmers and the cooperative-farmers sector have planted more than 600 hectares of potatoes in the province of Ciego de Avila and will continue to plant this tuber in the coming days to complete the goal of planting 755 hectares for the current winter season. The work is being carried out by workers from the companies La Cuba, Arnaldo Ramirez, El Mambi, and Cubasoy, belonging to the municipalities of Baragua, Primero de…
When you think of China, do you think of potatoes? Maybe not, but in the Loess Plateau region of northwestern China, potato is the main food crop. Even though it is such an important crop there, potato yields are lower than they could be. The area has a dry climate with uneven precipitation. Droughts are common, especially in the spring when crops are just starting to emerge. If soil moisture was more…
In Algeria, the Minister of Agriculture, Rural Development and Fisheries Abdelkader Bouazghi said Saturday, Dec. 8 in Guelma: “Algeria will stop the import of potato seeds in 2021.” In a statement to the press at the farm Richi Abdelmadjid in the commune of Belkheir, the minister indicated that this farm has “greatly”succeeded in the technical mastery of the production in quantities of seed potatoes of first generation (G1) allowing the production of second…
UK potato production has hit its lowest level since 2012 and the fourth smallest since 1960, down by 13% on the five-year average of 5.6m tonnes at 4.9m tonnes. The relatively low production figure is a result of an estimated 4.4% drop in planted area, and a 12% drop in average yield. The crop was heavily impacted by a combination of late planting and the prolonged hot and dry weather that stalled tuber…
November 02, 2018 – Ottawa, Ontario – Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada The Government of Canada recognizes that Canadian innovation has helped make our country a leader in producing safe, high quality products and we are committed to fostering innovation in the agricultural sector – here in Canada and beyond. The Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, Lawrence MacAulay, is pleased that Canada has joined Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Honduras,…