The Irish main crop potato harvest has begun with conditions described across the country as variable.
“Despite the cold, late spring and consequently the slow emergence of the 2024 crop, it has been a great year for potatoes so far. Rainfall amounts have been moderate at the right times,” according to Farming Life, with Stuart Meredith, agronomist for packer Wilson’s Country. “Grower costs continue to increase. It has also been a tricky blight year. The potential of the disease to impact on crops has been consistently high.”
Stuart continued, “This has required potato growers to spray for blight on a weekly basis. In addition, it is only the most expensive chemistries that are delivering the required levels of blight control. And this, again, is adding significantly to the cost of growing potatoes.
“It’s now evident that crops grown with chemical fertilisers are senescing much earlier than those grown with the use of organic manures. This may be due to the fact that residual nitrogen levels within soils started out lower this Spring due to the excessive rainfall last Winter and the slower releasing nitrogen from applied organic manures has been needed to carry the plant through the season.”
The area of potatoes in Ireland this year is reported to higher than last year, partly as some growers switched to the crop due to the late spring. So far yields are described as ‘average or slightly above average.’
