Salad potato production in Ireland

Michael Hennessy, Shay Phelan, Denis Griffin, John Pettit

Industry impact: Salad potatoes or ‘baby’ potatoes are a growing consumer segment (growing approximately 7-10% year on year). In 2014, salad potato production in Ireland accounted for approximately 15% of production, with imports filling the gap. A joint industry plan involving Teagasc as the lead, the Irish Farmers’ Association and Bord Bia (Irish Food Board) set about increasing Irish production (with a target of 50%), thereby achieving import substitution. The programme addressed technical production problems by farmers and also market access issues. Slaney Farms provided a hub for meetings and co-designing solutions to technical issues encountered by growers. This farm and others provided a vital link to demonstrating best practice and acceptability of the concept to other farmers. After the three-year programme, production is estimated to have increased by over 200% from approximately 3,000 tonnes/per year to over 7,000 tonnes in 2018.

Correspondence: michael.hennessy@teagasc.ie

Contribution of non-research stakeholders:

Teagasc specialists and advisors and John Stafford, Slaney Farms, Wexford.

Other contributors and collaborators:

Irish Farmers’ Association, Bord Bia, Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC) and Stuart Wale, Potato Specialist.

Funding: Teagasc grant-in-aid and Bord Bia.