We have not posted anything for a while, but the drought-forecast that we made last November seems to be in the news. It is hard to believe that the drought is real, however, given the incessant rain of April. And May has not kicked off too impressively, considering there has been rain for the entire month sofar in London (nearly 12 hours).
Potato plantings were pretty well-advanced before the rains came, and it is most likely that this wet period has had no detrimental effect on the crop's potential to yield a good high-quality crop. Of course, there is plenty of time to elapse before harvest, whether of early salads or of maincrop. If the rain continues at this rate, then there is risk that some seed tubers might lie in sodden, possibly even flooded ground. Then the prognosis will look a lot worse.
So it is hard to predict the impact on the potato crop of the as-yet unfinished drought, or the current wet period.
In terms of the stored crop, there remain a lot of maincrop potatoes to clear. Stored salad/baby potatoes are few and far between, and many lines have moved onto new crop Israeli or Egyptian. The quality of the latter is extremely good.
Potato plantings were pretty well-advanced before the rains came, and it is most likely that this wet period has had no detrimental effect on the crop's potential to yield a good high-quality crop. Of course, there is plenty of time to elapse before harvest, whether of early salads or of maincrop. If the rain continues at this rate, then there is risk that some seed tubers might lie in sodden, possibly even flooded ground. Then the prognosis will look a lot worse.
So it is hard to predict the impact on the potato crop of the as-yet unfinished drought, or the current wet period.
In terms of the stored crop, there remain a lot of maincrop potatoes to clear. Stored salad/baby potatoes are few and far between, and many lines have moved onto new crop Israeli or Egyptian. The quality of the latter is extremely good.
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