Tag Archives: potatoes

Aylsham potato grower to build new store

Norfolk-based E F Harrold Ltd of Oulton, near Aylsham, has applied for planning permission to build a new 2,200 tonne potato box store according to the Eastern Daily Press.

The development at street farm would include an open loading canopy, an office and machinery store.

A design and access statement presented to Broadland District Council as part of the application says: ‘The business has limited potato storage of its own… Moving all of potatoes directly off the farm at harvest time is a logistical problem, a very inefficient use of labour, due to the sporadic nature of harvest; and with its intensive nature, an intensive use of the local road network.’

Photo Caption: Harvesting potatoes at E F Harrold

Photo Credit: Ben Burgess / Twitter

The post Aylsham potato grower to build new store appeared first on Hort News on 18 April 2018.

Purple potatoes reduce colon cancer risk

Scientists at Pennsylvania State University have found that a diet rich in colourful fruits and vegetables, and in particular purple potatoes, may help to prevent or stop colon cancer and bowel diseases, following trials on pigs.

In the study, pigs that were served a high calorie diet supplemented with purple-fleshed potatoes had less colonic mucosal interleukin-6 — IL-6 — compared to a control group. IL-6 is a protein that is important in inflammation, and elevated IL-6 levels are correlated with proteins, such as Ki-67, that are linked to the spread and growth of cancer cells.

“What we are learning is that food is a double-edge sword — it may promote disease, but it may also help prevent chronic diseases, like colon cancer,” said Jairam K.P. Vanamala, associate professor of food sciences at Penn State University. “What we don’t know is, ‘how does this food work on the molecular level?’ This study is a step in that direction.”

While the researchers used purple potatoes in this study, Vanamala said other colourful fruits and vegetables could prompt similar effects. “For example, white potatoes may have helpful compounds, but the purple potatoes have much greater concentrations of these anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant compounds,” he said. “We use the purple potato as a model and hope to investigate how other plants can be used in the future.”

Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons

The post Purple potatoes reduce colon cancer risk appeared first on Hort News on 5 March 2018.

Twin partnerships to address soil health

Soils are fundamental to almost all forms of crop production, so adopting a rotational approach to soil health makes sense. That’s why AHDB has funded a five-year programme of research and knowledge exchange into key aspects of soil health as part of the GREATsoils programme. With the first information gathering reports published, the work is now moving into the next phase – Experiments and on-farm trials designed to answer key questions raised by farmers and growers about how they can practically improve soil health in their own fields. Read more…

Yorkshire grower launches vodka business

A Yorkshire grower has already won a prestigious award for his new potato vodka before any of the spirit has gone on sale to the public.

David Rawlings of Priory Farm, Syningthwaite, near Boston Spa, won two gold awards at last autumn’s Global Spirit Masters competition where one judge described the product as “pure, fruity and floral.”

David is using just one acre of his 60 acres of potatoes for the enterprise, with most of his crop still being sold for chipping with McCain’s and McDonald’s. He says he was inspired by the success of Chase Vodka which was developed in Hereford around three years ago.

“We’re hoping to make vodka the new gin,” he told The Yorkshire post. “It’s the original moonshine that is talked about in American films and we feel the work we have all put into our potato vodka makes it stand out from the rest. We’re also looking at experimenting with other flavours such as forced rhubarb.

“It only takes ten days to produce a bottle of vodka having started with boiling and mashing potatoes to turn them to starch and from there into sugar fermentation with the resultant turning into alcohol. The fermentation takes the greatest time and is achieved in a week. We’re not in full production yet, but we will be shortly as our Priory Vodka goes on general sale to selected farm shop outlets.”

Photo Credit: Priory Vodka

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New PCN calculator unveiled

Researchers working on a project supported by AHDB Potatoes hope they will be able to improve the accuracy of a calculator on the AHDB website for the Globodera pallida species of potato cyst nematode.

The current PCN pallida calculator replaces an earlier CD-based version, and is designed to be updated with new information as it becomes available. Based on feedback, AHDB claims the web version is more user friendly, allowing for greater flexibility to move around the various input tabs and so demonstrate ‘what if’ scenarios.

Senior Research Assistant Bill Watts at Harper Adams University is hoping that the 20 month project will provide new data sets to help the calculator keep up with the latest findings on PCN biology, shifting varietal trends and new management practices.

“The varieties under investigation include Estima, Lady Rosetta, Marfona, Maris Piper, Markies, Melody, Nectar, Pentland Dell, Royal and Taurus,” he said. “They represent the ten most widely grown varieties in the UK today and are compared to two control varieties; Maris Peer which is intolerant to PCN, and Cara which is tolerant of PCN. Much emphasis has been placed on investigating resistant varieties; however, information on varietal tolerance to PCN is also important to potato growers.”

The next set of tolerance experiments will be carried out this spring, although AHDB stress that the model, “Is not a decision support system as it does not offer advice on what you should do. Instead it is an educational tool, or a decision justifier.”

Photo Caption: PCN cysts on infected potato roots.

Photo Credit: USDA

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New EU guidance on potato tuber pest

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) Panel on Plant Health has categorised the Guatemalan potato tuber moth (Tecia solanivora (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae)) as a Union quarantine pest for the EU.

  1. solanivora, which feeds exclusively on Solanum tuberosum, was first described in Costa Rica in 1973 and has spread through Central and northern South America via the trade in seed potatoes. It has also spread to Mexico, the Canary Islands and mainland Spain where it is under official control in Galicia and Asturias.
  2. solanivora is currently regulated by Council Directive 2000/29/EC, listed in Annex II/AI as Scrobipalpopsis solanivora. Larvae feed and develop within potato tubers; infested tubers therefore provide a pathway for pest introduction and spread, as does the soil accompanying potato tubers if it is infested with eggs or pupae.

Defra has published a fact sheet on the Guatemalan potato tuber moth, but EFSA points out that there are uncertainties over the effectiveness of preventing illegal imports via passenger baggage and the magnitude of potential impacts in the cool EU climate.

Photo Credit: Cornell University

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Nearly half of all fresh potatoes thrown away

UK waste advisory body WRAP has launched a new campaign, Save Our Spuds, to increase awareness of the level of waste associated with the vegetable. According to the organisation 5.8 million tubers are thrown away each and every day in British homes.

The waste accounts to around 730,000 tonnes a year, almost half (46 per cent) of the 1.7 million tonnes purchased every year, costing £230 million. Through its Love Food Hate Waste website, WRAP is sharing storage tips and recipes with the public which it hopes will reduce this figure.

Two years ago Swiss researchers also revealed that just over half of all fresh potatoes are were wasted in their country. Christian Willersinn, lead author of the Swiss work, blamed consumers’ high quality standards, as well as production loses.

Sainsbury’s have introduced opaque packaging on some of its potato lines to reduce greening in store. Jane Skelton, Sainsbury’s head of packaging, commented, “Last year we introduced new opaque packaging which is breathable, but prevents any light from reaching the potatoes, the most common culprit for greening.”

food

Photo Caption: WRAP has launched a new campaign to reduce potato waste.

Photo Credit: WRAP / Love Food, Hate Waste

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North-west European potato harvest estimate rises

The North-Western European Potato Growers (NEPG) group has increased its estimate for the region’s potato harvest from its earlier figure published in September. NEPG now estimates the total harvest for the five countries represented (the UK, France, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands) at 28.9 million tonnes.

Although final yields in the UK are not yet available, and some 10-15 per cent of the Dutch acreage is still to be harvested because of wet weather, NEPG estimates the total crop is 17.7 per cent higher than last year and 15.6 per cent higher than the five-year average. With yield per hectare up in all countries apart from the UK, where the figure is still unknown, the total yield is slightly above that recorded in 2014, which was the largest figure on record.

However, while overall yields are up, variability is high, particularly in France and Belgium. Overall crop quality is described as good, but losses are expected to be above normal levels and some questions remain about the storability of crops harvested in wet conditions. Dry matters are also low in many instances, with many crops of Bintje and Fontane in the Benelux countries being below the specified minimum levels for starch processing.

Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons

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Scab continues to be a concern for packing crops

According to AHDB Potatoes, scab continues to be a concern for crops of packing potatoes in England.

In its Potato Weekly bulletin last Friday, the organisation said that despite widespread showers, many crops had been burnt off in the east of England. ‘Yields have been good in general with good tuber size and numbers,’ said, adding that ‘scab was common around the early season; however, much of this fear has abated for later crops, although those from the sandier soils are suffering.’

Scab was also reported in the west, along with hollow heart, but was said to be less prevalent in the south of England. ‘In Scotland, many crops were burnt down in readiness for harvesting in the weeks to come and to control oversize tubers in some crops. The first continual supplies of local set-skinned material are now being packed, with quality reported to be excellent,’ the report finished.

Photo Caption: Common scab on potato

Photo Credit: AHDB potatoes

The post Scab continues to be a concern for packing crops appeared first on Hort News on 31 August.

McCain Scarborough expansion approved by local council

McCain Foods has had its plans for a £100 million expansion of its potato processing facility in Scarborough recommended by the planning committee of Scarborough Borough Council.

The plans for the Eastfield site include upgrades to equipment and renewable energy generation, as well as environmental measures such as odour reduction technology and landscaping. The company, which has been on the site for almost 50 years, says that the expansion will help to secure jobs in the area.

Bill Bartlett, corporate affairs director for McCain, commented, “We are delighted at the outcome of the planning committee’s decision to recommend approval of the renewal plans for our Scarborough site. This will see over GBP100m invested into our Scarborough facility. Established in Eastfield almost 50 years ago, the McCain Foods Scarborough facility is one of the company’s most successful sites. As the largest private employer in Scarborough and partner to many suppliers and community organizations in the area, we are dedicated to our operations here.”

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