Pressure is mounting on the Department of Agriculture and Food to ban all potato imports from Britain following an outbreak of ring rot in the UK. Sean Mac Connell, Agriculture Correspondent, reports.
British experts believe it could be eight weeks before the extent of the bacterial damage caused by the first outbreak of the disease in Britain can be fully assessed. Ring rot can wipe out 50 per cent of a potato crop.
The experts are also attempting to track the destination of three loads of seed potatoes from the outbreak farm to other areas in Britain.
The outbreak was confirmed last week at a farm in Bwlch, mid-Wales, one of the largest farms in Wales which specialises in growing potato seed.
The disease is thought to have been imported in Dutch seed potatoes.
Officials said the infected farm sells potatoes worldwide, and supplies much of Pembrokeshire's potato industry. Checks on 651 Welsh growers are continuing.
Last night, the Irish Farmers' Association (IFA) called for a ban on all potato imports until the extent of the outbreak was established.
It said all appropriate measures should be put in place to protect the Irish industry.
The IFA's national potato committee chairman, Mr John Sheridan, said imports must be stopped until proper sampling procedures were in place whereby all loads on entry to the State were tested and cleared.
Mr Billy Timmins, Fine Gael's spokesperson on agriculture and food, called on the Minister for Agriculture and Food, Mr Walsh, to carry out tests on all British imports until the details surrounding the outbreak in Wales were established.
The Department of Agriculture and Food said it had been sampling for ring rot routinely every year. It had concentrated on imports from countries which do not have a high-grade seed status.
The Department also said ring rot had been identified recently in Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Spain and the Netherlands.
It is the Netherlands which is thought to have been the source of the Welsh outbreak.
The Department added that it had a contingency plan in the event of any occurrence of the disease.
Imports of potatoes from Britain are thought to be at around 100,000 tonnes.
