The 2024 National Potato Conference was an uplifting event with one clear outcome – growers can look forward to a buoyant year ahead.
The maincrop harvest is now complete and yields are down by approximately 1t/ac. However, potato quality is excellent and prices continue to hold up well.
Meanwhile, potato consumption levels continue to rise.
This is the polar opposite scenario that was confronting the potato sector a mere decade ago – consumption levels falling and prices equally challenging.
So, why the improvement in the fortunes of Ireland’s favourite and most traditional vegetable?
First off, Bord Bia must be given full credit for the marketing work it has carried out on behalf of the potato sector over the past 10 years.
Central to this work, was the effective targeting of young consumers, and it is a strategy that has paid off in spades.
In tandem with this, has been the more general effort put in, telling consumers about the real truth of potatoes as a healthy and versatile food source.
As is always the case, matters of a financial nature really talk at the end of the day. The fact is that potatoes represent tremendous value for money.
But, there are other issues coming into play.
Potato
Ireland’s population continued to increase – by the end of the current decade, there may well by eight million people living on this island. This brings us back to pre-famine levels.
At this level of population, the home market becomes a real dynamic for the potato sector and all of the other industries that make up production agriculture in Ireland.
But by far the greatest influence on Irish potato consumption levels, can be attributed to the advent of the air fryer.
This one piece of technology has totally transformed the way that consumers cook the ‘humble spud’.
For the record, two-thirds of Irish households were using an air fryer at the end of 2023, but the Irish potato sector cannot afford to sit on its laurels – change is coming.
A case in point is the significant restriction in the range of crop chemistries potato growers will be allowed to use when it come to meeting the challenge of blight.
Linked to this, is the decision to totally restrict the availability of blight chemistries to amateur growers, that is effective form next year.
Integrated pest management is the future in this regard for all Irish potato growers, and the time to get on board with these practices is now.