After two dry years out of the last four, many UK farmers are seriously considering the future viability of potato cultivation. An exceptionally dry summer for much of the UK came on the back of a dry growing season in 2018. Potatoes on lighter soils without irrigation suffered poor yields this year in many parts of the country. It seems likely that all but heavy soils will need access to irrigation for successful cropping, as extreme weather patterns might become commonplace.

The Executive Director at Agrico UK, Archie Gibson, has stated: “We have now had two in four dry years. In parts of eastern Scotland and most of England, if you can't get water to your potatoes you are going to question if you should plant. A lot of farmers have put in reservoirs and more will need to be built to cope with dry summers. Places like Norfolk need a lot of reservoirs if they don’t have access to ground water. On lighter land, many farmers have chanced growing potatoes, but these two dry summers will have forced a rethink. If you don't have irrigation, you need to stop and ask yourself, is this wise?

"Taken in consideration with the failure of farm gate prices to keep pace with costs, it seems probable that the overall planted area will reduce in the short term. I’d say we are looking at a smaller area of potatoes planted in the future.”

Source - https://www.freshplaza.com