How extreme weather events are impacting one of Scotland's key crops

Extreme weather events are making it increasingly difficult for farmers to harvest one of Scotland’s key crops.

Heavy rainfall earlier this year delayed the start of the planting season for potato farmers.

It means the harvesting period will be extended this year, potentially increasing the risk of further adverse weather.

“The weather is becoming more unpredictable and unfortunately the extremes are more extreme than we’ve ever been used to in the past,” said Alistair Melrose, a potato farmer in Perth.

“We export a lot of potatoes to Egypt and Morocco.

“That’s fairly time sensitive, in the past there’s been a deadline to get these potatoes out of the country, which has been December 5.

“If the harvest is delayed then we have less time to move these potatoes.”

Alistair’s business has had to fork out hundreds of thousand of pounds on extra machinery in a bid to be able to harvest potatoes in time to meet buyers deadlines.

He attended an industry event near Dundee this week, Potatoes in Practice, to hear about ways to make the crop more sustainable.

Faye Ritchie from agricultural consultancy firm ADAS believes potatoes are at increasing risk of strains of Phytophthora infestans, a disease which led to widespread crop failure during the Irish potato famine.

“What we need to do is try and get ahead of the disease,” she said.

“If we don’t, we’re going to be stuck. We’ve got ways of controlling it now but we need to be looking at alternatives.

“We need to be looking at whether we can use genetics better to control the disease.

“We need to be thinking if we can use less chemistry to control the disease.

“Are there other alternatives? Can we prime the plant’s host defence system.”

The James Hutton Institute has signed a memorandum of understanding with a Chinese university to advance research into the sustainability of potatoes.

“What’s so amazing about collaborating with China is they are investing hugely in potato,” said the centre’s chief executive, Colin Campbell.

“They’ve recognised it as a national, staple crop.

The James Hutton Institute has signed a memorandum of understanding with a Chinese university STV News

“It means they have to have a national plan for storage and production of potatoes.

“They’re investing huge amounts in their science, research and development.

“It’s now the biggest producer of potatoes in the world.

“This is really important, not just for China but the whole world because potato is such an important crop in terms of food security for the whole world.”