In an attempt to help the potato growers move away from the tubers that are susceptible to blight – a disease that can quickly devastate entire potato crops – key UK retailers take the Soil Association’s developed ‘UK Robust Potato Pledge’ and promise to sell disease-resistant spuds.
That way, the key UK retailers say, cited by Fruitnet, selling disease-resistant organic potatoes will boost sustainability and farm resilience for producers.
The Soil Association representatives said that the pledge co-signatories have agreed to support the organic tubers that have been bred to be blight resistant, rather than vending more well-known varieties – helping the organic potato sector transition to 100% robust potato breeds over the next five years.
Waitrose, Riverford, Abel and Cole, Agrico, Sarpo, Skea Organics, RBOrganic, and Produce World have all signed up to the pledge, which was launched on October 13 at the Organic Grower’s Alliance’s Organic Matters Horticulture Conference.
The pledge agreement builds on research from Organic-PLUS, an EU project which aims to reduce the use of contentious inputs in organic and non-organic agriculture. Organizations such as Organic Grower’s Alliance, English Organic Forum, Organic Research Centre, and Biodynamic Association have also pledged their support.
Coventry University’s Centre for Agroecology, Water and Resilience (CAWR) has agreed to help monitor the pledge progress, including looking at the proportion of robust varieties being used in both retail and organic acreage.
As part of the Defra-funded FOOdIVERSE project, CAWR has also set up a “Living Lab” research group to help maximize its impact in year one. This will bring key stakeholders together across both organic and non-organic potato supply chains to share information and best practice affecting the uptake of robust varieties, which will help to inform yearly targets for the pledge.
