Written answers

Tuesday, 18 June 2013

Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine

Potato Sector

Photo of Séamus KirkSéamus Kirk (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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456. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will provide an update on potato variety development; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29163/13]

Photo of Simon CoveneySimon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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Teagasc is the main potato breeder in Ireland. Its breeding programme originally focused on the breeding of varieties for the home market but since the inception of its partnership with Irish Potato Marketing, (IPM) in the 1970’s, the scope of the breeding programme expanded very successfully to include breeding for the export market as well as to producing a suitable processing variety for the home market. Since its partnership with IPM, Teagasc has released 39 varieties and at least 25 of these are still being marketed commercially by IPM in Europe, North Africa and the Middle East.

The first big success was the variety Cara, bred in the early 1970’s. Cara became the main seed export variety from Ireland following its release and is still a popular variety in the U.K., North Africa and the Mediterranean regions. The variety Rooster, released in 1990 as a variety suitable for the Irish home market, is probably the best-known of the Teagasc-bred varieties and accounts for 56% of the total potato area grown in Ireland. Less well known varieties such as Setanta and Infinity, released in 2004 and 2009 respectively, are showing promise in the potato crisping industry.

The Teagasc Breeding Programme usually submit 3 to 4 new seedlings each year to the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine’s Crop Evaluation and Certification Programme, to evaluate yield and agronomic characters and to ensure the uniformity and stability of the potentially new varieties. A successful outcome from these examinations is a legal prerequisite before commercial marketing of new varieties can commence. Fourteen new varieties were released from the Teagasc Breeding Programme over the last 10 years.

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