Monday 11 May 2015

Disease Mars Indian Potato Exports

With the Russian phytosanitary services cracking down on potatoes from Egypt, it could have been a blessing in disguise for Indian exporters had it not for the brown bacterial rot disease.

Early April, while the quarantine phytosanitary control of two potato consignments weighing 57 tonnes imported from India was on, the bacterial rot (Ralstonia solanacearum Yabuuchi) was noticed.

According to information available to BusinessLine, there were nine cases in 2011 and 23 cases in 2014 when brown rot was detected in plant products imported from India.

Based on the assessments of the specialists from the Russian Agricultural Academy, the potential losses from the possible introduction of brown rot to Russia could be more than 50 billion rubles a year. They have pointed out that an outbreak of this kind will also threaten tomatoes, apart from potatoes in Russia’s southern regions.

The agency has held that it reserves the right to impose temporary restrictions on the import of Indian potatoes. Exports of potato from India jumped from 1,93,085.84 tonnes in 2011-12 valued at Rs1.3 billion, to 2,20,926.10 tonnes in 2013-14 valued at Rs2.5 billion, according to the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (Apeda).

Source:freshplaza.com
 



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