Potato growers were told yesterday it might be in their interest to plant less potatoes this coming season, for financial reasons.
The advice was given at the joint IFA/Teagasc national potato conference in Kill, Co Kildare, by Mr Malachy Mitchell, the IFA's potato co-ordinator.
He said he had learned that farmers had planned to increase the national crop by nearly eight per cent this year and he was advising caution.
"In a sense, the poor weather and low yields of last harvest have been beneficial and have increased the prices being paid to growers," he said. "This has meant there has been a 20,000 tonne shortfall this year and has shoved up the prices being paid to us, even though there has been an increase in imports," he said.
This was confirmed by Mr Tom Maher, the potato specialist with Teagasc, the agriculture and food development authority.
Mr Maher told the conference lower yields and losses due to later harvesting meant the growers were receiving €100 per tonne more than this time last year.
He said Teagasc was advising growers to plant the maximum acreage of the varieties for which consumers had a proven preference.
The two most popular potato varieties in Ireland were "Rooster" and "Kerr's Pink" and he said there was a real need for the industry to conduct an educational and promotional campaign extolling the attributes of Irish grown varieties.
The Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture and Food, Mr Noel Treacy, said the Irish still had the highest per capita consumption of potatoes in the EU, consuming 162 kg per head of population each year.
However, more than 40 per cent of our domestic potatoes were now being imported he said, compared to a time when this country was net exporters of potatoes.
The issue of imports was addressed by IFA deputy president, Mr Ruaidhrí Deasy, who called on the Government to tackle the mislabelling of potatoes.
"It is in the interests of consumers and growers that all potatoes sold show both the variety and country of origin, even to the catering and manufacturing trade," he said.
He said the problem of imported potatoes being presented as Irish-grown to consumers could be addressed by extending the Food Standards (Potatoes) Regulations to include the early crop.
"The change in the law must also be underpinned through greater consumer information by placing the country of origin on all potatoes sold, regardless of time of year, format or market," he said.
He said that since the closure of Donegal Foods in 2001, there was now no potato processing plant in the State and that virtually all the processed potatoes consumed in the State were imported.
IFA and An Bord Glas, the Irish horticulture board, were conducting a study to see if a processing plant could be established in the State.