By Ewan Pate

THE presence of China’s 'King of Potatoes' at last week's Potatoes in Practice event is being seen as highly significant, by industry experts.

In recent years JHI Ltd, the commercial division of the James Hutton Institute and its predecessor body, Mylnefield Research Services, has assiduously courted the vast Chinese potato sector. It has been a case of playing the long game with government officials and industry figures.

Now it seems there has been a major breakthrough. Liang Xisen’s title as the industry 'king' is well justified. He is estimated to produce or be involved in processing around 25% of China’s entire potato crop of 100m tonnes.

He grows 100,000 ha on rented land, mostly in Northern China along the Mongolian border and in the coastal regions north of Beijing. His business has the capacity to produce 40m mini tubers annually and it is this which is of most interest to JHI Ltd and Scottish partners.

Seed exports to China are not yet approved, but plant material can be sent for further propagation. This has resulted in the development in China of a new variety Sulan 1, translated as Scotland 1, with Mr Liang involved in the commercialisation.

It is a late variety, high yielding in Chinese terms, with yields around 10 tonnes per acre (25 tonnes per ha) and resistance in China to late blight.

Mr Liang is also involved in processing through his Xisen Potato Industry Group business. Jonathan Snape, commercial director at JHI, recently returned from visiting Mr Liang in China, had set up a display of products in the Potatoes in Practice marquee. These ranged from flakes to breads to canned drinks.

The whole Chinese potato industry has been lifted in national perception, with the crop only two weeks ago being given the official status of a staple food. It joins rice, maize and wheat as a crop of strategic importance.

It is expected that this new importance will see even more of China’s vast scientific resource being directed towards potatoes and JHI is looking towards increased levels of Sino-Scottish collaboration.

Mr Liang certainly seemed to be enjoying his day at Potatoes in Practice, held at JHI’s Balruddery Farm, near Dundee. A jocular figure surrounded by a large entourage, he spent the entire day visiting trade exhibitors and posing for endless photographs.

Brought up in rural China, he moved to Beijing, where he eventually became a property billionaire. Around a decade ago, he decided to invest some of his money back into rural China and founded his potato empire.

This was his first visit to Scotland and, during a hectic few days, he had visited, amongst others, the government’s seed potato certification unit at SASA, McCains Potatoes at Montrose, JHI chairman, Allan Stevenson, at his farm at Luffness Mains, and Arbikie Highland Estate, near Arbroath, to see potato vodka being produced. He had also been taken to see supermarkets and the range of varieties on offer.

Blackleg concern over extra testing

WHILE THE wet start to the day saw more growers than usual at a well-attended Potatoes in Practice event at Balruddery Farm, Dundee, not all were in good cheer.

Ware producers might have had reason to be slightly more optimistic, with news from AHDB Potatoes that sales of fresh potatoes have improved every month since May, 2015. The cumulative increase might only be 1.4%, but compared to 2012/13, when the decline was 13%, this is a considerable turn around.

Many of the seed growers at PiP were, however, expressing real dissatisfaction at the sudden imposition of new inspection rules which meant some crops facing a third field inspection.

They had discovered during the July inspections that any crop showing more than 25% of the allowable level of blackleg for its grade was either subject to a third inspection or had to be burned down within two weeks. Alternatively, the grower could accept a lower grade.

One frustrated grower said: “This came from nowhere and has been a real problem with some crops. Surely if the stated tolerance is met the grade should stand.

"Very few crops would be big enough to burn off within two weeks of second inspection and I can hardly think of a more efficient way to spread blackleg than for roguers to have to wade through advanced crops.”

Many growers were making their way to the SASA stand to make their displeasure known, where Dr Gerry Saddler, head of plant health at SASA ,the government body responsible for plant health said: "We have always had the power to bring in third inspections but haven’t done so previously. I know it has not been universally popular and I admit we may not have consulted enough before introducing the measure.”

It is clear, however, that SASA are not keen to relent on the battle against blackleg, with post-harvest testing also being considered.

Professor Ian Toth, of the James Hutton Institute, confirmed that 2016 had been a particularly bad blackleg season. Recent research had shown that completely clean tubers planted in the spring could develop foliar blackleg infection in the same season.