A stark warning concerning the consequences of Potato Cyst Nematode (PCN) in Scotland headlined the recent 5th Symposium of PCN Management, held at Harper Adams University (pictured above).
Event delegates were told by Scots Agriculturalist, Martin Cessford, that the consequences of PCN in Scotland is a ‘growing concern’. He also said that because of PCN, coupled with the impact of Brexit, ‘we might not be able to export anywhere very soon’.
The symposium programme, which covered a variety of topics including biology, modelling, distribution, novel control strategies, such as trap cropping and cultivar resistance, also featured a session chaired by Leendert Molendijk, of Wageningen University. He led a focused debate on the natural decline of PCN in The Netherlands.
“It’s great to come to an event like this where scientists, academics and people from the industry all attend to develop solutions that everyone can use,” he said.
PCN’s economic impact overall has been estimated to be more than £26 million annually to the UK potato industry.
Access Harper Adams report
