Irlanda: Irish potato yields down after ‘unusual and variable season’
In the December issue of the Teagasc potato newsletter, Teagasc potato specialist Shay Phelan writes that most growers were able to plant crops earlier than normal, but late frost, ....
….followed by severe drought in some areas, excess rainfall in July/August and again in late October made growing the crop very tricky for all growers.
While some growers were finished digging earlier than ever, in the north-west they are still struggling to finish harvesting in very poor soil conditions.
According to Shay Phelan, the yields recorded show a significant decrease on the 2019 crop. Despite the early planting, it was noticeable that in many crops, tuber numbers were low and so yields were always going to be limited.
Despite the drought, only 33% of the crops sampled by Teagasc were irrigated. In the last 10 years only the yields of 2012 and 2018 were lower than the 2020 crop. As a result Rooster yielded lower than the 10 year average of 16.38 t/ac and Kerr’s Pink also below the 10 year average of 13.80 t/ac.
Potatonewstoday.com reports that, although production will be lower than last year, the effect of Covid-19 on processing and peeling markets may dampen demand. Still, the demand for Roosters and Kerr’s Pink hopefully will remain steady through the spring.
Photo source: Dreamstime.com
Fuente: https://www.freshplaza.com/article/9279546/irish-potato-yields-down-after-unusual-and-variable-season/
