• Potato Cyst Nematode Hub

    The UK is the 5th largest potato producer and exporter in Europe with an industry worth ~£4.5 billion. Almost 80% of seed potatoes used in Great Britain originate from Scotland. The industry is under threat from potato cyst nematodes (PCN) which have spread across potato growing areas for decades. PCN drastically reduce yields and are incredibly difficult to control. Scottish legislation prevents seed potatoes being grown on land where PCN have been detected to reduce further introductions. However, PCN are already present in almost 21,000 ha of Scottish soils. Recent predictions suggest PCN will cause the end of the Scottish seed potato industry by 2050, potentially only 5 rotations away. If this happens, the UK potato industry will consequently collapse.

  • Potato Cyst Nematode Hub

    Delivering a sustainable potato industry for Scotland through management of Potato cyst nematode (PCN).

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Work Package 1 - Economics
Significant economic losses from PCN are possible and the costs and benefits of interventions are unclear.
Work Package 2 - Decision Support
Control options for PCN in Scotland are reducing so it is becoming more important to provide growers with support to manage PCN.
Work Package 3 - Resistance marker development and mobilising new resistances
Land infested with PCN is becoming more prevalent and potato breeding could be used to address this problem.
Work Package 4 - Dihaploid induction for accelerated crop improvement
Improvements in potato breeding will help control PCN through the increased availability of resistant varieties.
Work Package 5 - Mechanistic understanding of tolerance to PCN to aid breeding
Tolerance, the ability of a variety to produce a good yield despite the presence of PCN, is not widely understood at a genetic level.
Work Package 6 - Groundkeeper Control
Controlling potato groundkeepers is important because they reduce the effectiveness of rotations for PCN management.
Work Package 7 - Novel IPM tools
The industry will need to look at different approaches such as integrated pest management (IPM) especially if chemical controls for PCN decrease.
Work Package 8 - Knowledge Exchange and Communications
Communicating with stakeholders about the future threat of PCN in Scotland and the management techniques available and under development.
Work Package 9 - Policy
Changes to Scottish Government policy are required to safeguard Scottish land from PCN and create a coordinated control strategy for infested land.

Latest Project Outputs

Economics report frontpage
The Estimated Economic Contribution of Scotland's Seed and Ware Potato Sectors

This report is part of Work Package 1: Economic Contribution of the Scottish Government funded research project: Delivering a sustainable potato industry for Scotland through management of Potato cyst nematode (PCN). As part of this workstream this report aims to provide new insights into the economic contribution that the Scottish potato sector makes beyond the…

Further information about our projects are available on the following page.

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PCN Action Scotland Feature on BBC!

The work of PCN Action Scotland has been featured by the BBC in print (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cjdkyrk0g0lo), on BBC Radio 4 Farming, and as interviews with Dr James Price and Dr Kerry Leslie on Reporting Scotland this week!

We would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge all the breeding companies which have dedicated years to breeding new PCN resistant varieties, without which the PCN project would not exist.

We would also like to acknowledge all partners of PCN Action Scotland – SASA, SRUC & SAC Consulting, Scottish Agronomy, SoilEssentials, BioSS, The James Hutton Institute, and the plant health centre. Each of these partners equally contributes invaluable inputs into the project.

PCN Action Scotland would like to take this opportunity to thank the Scottish Government for the funding to conduct this research.

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The Estimated Economic Contribution of Scotland's Seed and Ware Potato Sectors report frontpage

The Estimated Economic Contribution of Scotland's Seed and Ware Potato Sectors

This report is part of Work Package 1: Economic Contribution of the Scottish Government funded research project: Delivering a sustainable potato industry for Scotland through management of Potato cyst nematode (PCN). As part of this workstream this report aims to provide new insights into the economic contribution that the Scottish potato sector makes beyond the often cited farmgate value of potato production. This report provides a statistical overview of this concentrated and highly regulated sector, including data on consumption, exports, imports, production, varieties, seed and ware sector – alongside estimates of economic contribution.

 

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Our Next Event

potato variety display in field
Barnyards Open Day 2024!
7 Aug 2024, 11am - 3pm

The FINAL PCN open day at Barnyards Farm, Tannadice will be held on the 7th of August 2024!

Click to sign up here!

 

An open day at Barnyards farm in Tannadice, Angus to discuss potato cyst nematodes (PCN) and current field trials investigating new control strategies. Session topics include, but are not limited to:

· Potato variety resistance and tolerance trials

· Oil radish variety trials

· Decision support system updates

· Policy discussions with SASA

· Live sprayer demonstrations targeting groundkeepers

 

There will be two sessions: morning (11-12:30pm) and afternoon (1:30-3pm). For each session there shall be a tour around the oil radish trial site, potato variety demonstration, discussions on the current state of PCN in Scotland, and updates from invited speakers (members of PCN Action Scotland Group) on research being done in the field.

*The afternoon session is a repeat of the morning session so you do not need to sign up for both.

Information on our Previous Events is also available.