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

Treatment of potatoes at merchant stores
The proportion of potatoes treated in merchant’s stores was 63%. This was an increase since the previous survey in 1998,
which estimated 50% were treated. In 1996 and 1994, 68% and 87% of merchant stored potatoes were treated,
respectively. The number of applications made to potatoes in store decreased to 1.7, although there was a 4.8% increase
in the tonnes of active substances used since the previous survey. The proportion of bulk-stored potatoes treated
decreased since the last survey from 86% to 57%, and the average number of treatments fell from 2.7 to 1.7. The average
number of treatments on box-stored potatoes also decreased from 2.5 to 1.6.
Chlorpropham remained the most important active substance used on all merchant-stored potatoes, increasing from 79%
of the total treated merchant-stored potatoes in 1996 to 82% in 1998 and to 90% in 2000. Seventy-four percent of these
treatments were applied to box-stored potatoes, showing an increase of 7% since 1998.
The trends in treatments to ware potatoes in the UK since 1994 are shown in Figure 2 below and in Table 15.
Fig. 2 Treatments made to ware potatoes in Great Britain, 1994 to 2000
Million tonnes
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
Extent and quantity of active substances used
The current survey recorded the use of tecnazene on only 3% of all potatoes stored on the farm and in merchant’s stores.
This contrasts with the predominant use of tecnazene recorded in all previous surveys.
There was an overall reduction of 41% in the weight of active substances applied to ware potatoes between 1998 and
2000, following a downward trend, with a 15% decrease having been recorded between 1996 and 1998. The
accumulated decrease between 1994 and 2000 is 72%. The weight of chlorpropham applied remained similar to that of
1998, while the weight of tecnazene applied decreased further by 80% and the weight of thiabendazole applied also
decreased by 78% between 1998 and 2000.
Stated reasons for treatment
1994 1996 1998 2000
Tonnes stored Basic tonnes treated Total tonnage treated
Tonnes untreated Tonnes of active substance
16
250
200
150
100
50
0
Tonnes (active substance)