'Catastrophic' potato disease hits UK

'Catastrophic' potato disease hits UK
Thursday November 13, 2003

A bacterial disease which has potentially "catastrophic" effects on potato crops has been discovered in the UK for the first time, it emerged today.
The bacterium c lavibacter michiganensis sepedonicus - which causes ring rot - was found in a sample of potatoes produced at a farm in mid-Wales from Dutch seed.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) says that annual losses from ring rot in the US have been as high as 50%, and the Farmers' Union of Wales (FUW) has warned that spread of the disease could spark a "catastrophe" in the UK potato industry.

The affected potatoes came from a consignment produced for export to the Canary islands as seed potatoes. Defra said that they had been checked as part of an annual survey of ring rot.

It said that, if ring rot became established in the UK, the potato industry would suffer direct yield losses, and the knock-on effect for the seed potato industry could be "substantial".

A Defra statement said: "Action is being taken to prevent any spread of the disease from the infected farm, and to trace any related potato stocks."

Dutch authorities are being contacted in an effort to identify other areas of the UK to which seed of the same variety and origin could have gone.

Buyers of any potatoes from the affected Welsh farm will be traced and the relevant authorities informed, the department said.

There are fears that the disease, which favours cool climates, could easily become established in the UK.

FUW spokesman Alan Morris said that the finding was of great concern to a farming community, which had already endured the 2001 foot and mouth crisis.

"We hope swift action will be taken to contain and eradicate this disease before it gets a foothold and spreads," Mr Morris said.

"The economic consequences if it gets a grip are enormous, and could cause a catastrophe in the potato industry in the UK. It is no risk to human health at all, but the financial losses could be enormous."