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The General Directorate for Agriculture, Livestock and Rural Development of the Regional Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food approved on Wednesday (02/16/2022) the Regional Potato Plan for Mallorca with the Potato Sector. It is a potato control plan from a phytosanitary and environmental point of view, which is to be applied from next week.
According to the Director General of Agriculture, Livestock and Rural Development, Fernando Fernández, “it will serve to ensure the competitiveness of the export of Mallorcan potatoes with quality standards”.
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This, he explained, “will be very positive because we are moving forward and it is in line with the requirements of importing countries in the near future, such as the UK after Brexit”.
The regional potato plan includes a control plan for both seed potatoes and ware potatoes, both for the movement of the tubers within the European Union and to third countries, with the aim of standardizing phytosanitary measures against quarantine pests such as Globodera. The controls are carried out both in the field and in the laboratory.
At the meeting, the 2022 export season for new potatoes, which starts on March 1, was also discussed. According to initial forecasts, around 30 market participants will export with a cultivated area of around 333 hectares, although new registrations can be expected during the course of the season. On average, around five thousand tons of potatoes leave Mallorca for the United Kingdom every year. Seventy percent of all potatoes exported from Spain to the UK come from Mallorca.
Finally, they also discussed the issue of potato growers’ associations, the so-called APAs. The aim is to update the facilities already created and to facilitate the creation of new facilities in order to strengthen this productive sector in the Balearic Islands. The regional ministry plans to set up an aid line for this purpose in the third quarter of 2022.
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