Potato Stores in Great Britain - The Food and Environment Research ...

COMPARISON BETWEEN SURVEYS CARRIED OUT IN GREAT BRITAIN IN 1994, 1996, 1998 & 2000
In 2000, it was estimated that the tonnage of ware potatoes harvested was 6,207,600 tonnes with a yield averaging 40.1
tonnes/hectare. The area of ware potatoes grown has increased by nearly 2% since the last survey while the area of seed
potatoes grown has increased by 3%. There has been an increase of just under 2% in the tonnage of ware potatoes stored
and an increase of 19% in the tonnage of seed potatoes stored (Table 15).
WARE POTATOES
Storage type
There has been an 8% reduction in the tonnage of ware potatoes being stored in farm facilities since 1998. In 2000 and
1998, ventilated stores were the principal type used, with an increase from 40% in 1998 to 54% of ware potatoes stored
in this manner on farms. This increase is in contrast to the downward shift observed since 1994, when 62% were stored
in ventilated stores, to 51% in 1996 and 40% in 1998. Unventilated farm stores decreased from 24% in 1998 to 12% in
2000, while the proportion of refrigerated stores remained similar at 36% in 1998 and 34% in 2000. In the current survey,
46% of ware potatoes stored on farms were stored in boxes, whilst in 1998 the figure was 57%. In 1994 bulk storage was
most common but the proportion of potatoes stored by this method has decreased from 62% in 1994, to 43% in 1998,
increasing to 54% in 2000.
The tonnage of ware potatoes stored by merchants increased by 47% between 1998 and 2000. Ventilated stores were the
most common store type in 2000 (54%), increasing from 38% of the total in both 1996 and 1998. Previously,
refrigerated stores had been the most important accounting for 58% in 1996, 55% in 1998, decreasing to 43% in 2000.
Unventilated stores decreased from 7% in 1998 to 3% in the current survey. The majority (80%) of merchant stored
potatoes were stored in boxes in both 1998 and 2000, declining from 87% of the total in 1996.
Treatment of potatoes at farm stores
The percentage of potatoes treated with either sprout suppressants or against storage diseases has decreased since the last
survey, with 47% of potatoes held in farm stores being treated in 2000, 55% in 1998 and 45% in 1996. This is greatly
reduced from the 1994 survey, where 70% of potatoes were treated and reflects the increased use of refrigeration and the
approaching withdrawal of tecnazene formulations. There was a 52% decrease in the total tonnage of active substances
used in farm stores between 1998 and 2000, following the trend of a 14% decrease between 1996 and 1998. This was
mainly due to a decrease in the use of tecnazene and the increased application of chlorpropham, an active substance used
at considerably lower rates when compared to tecnazene. Overall, the use of chlorpropham increased from 39% of all
tonnage treated in 1996 to 80% in 1998 and to 83% in 2000. The use of formulations containing tecnazene decreased
from 34% of the treated tonnage at farm stores used in 1996, to 10% in 1998 only 3% in 2000. The use of
tecnazene/thiabendazole formulations was not recorded in 2000.
There has been a reduction in the number of formulations used on bulk-stored potatoes from seven formulations in 1996,
to five in 1998 and four in 2000. The number of formulations used on boxed potatoes was six in 1996, four in 1998 with
five formulations being found in the current survey. The use of 2-aminobutane was not encountered on either boxed or
bulk stored ware potatoes in 2000.
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