EU Pesticide Regulation Likely to Severely Reduce UK Potato Production

The white and golden potato cyst nematodes (PCN) are the most economically important pests of potato in the UK [3]. Potato cyst nematodes originated in the Andes, where they coevolved with the potato. The earliest reports of PCN in the UK were in 1913. PCN were reported increasingly in the UK from 1920 onwards. In 1946, 20% of the potato acreage was estimated to be infected while surveys in 1996 and 2002 determined that 42% and 64% of the potato fields were infested, indicating a significant recent increase in the problem [2]. It is probable that a substantial portion of the remainder are “incubating” infestations too small to detect [4].