Institute of Informatics and Development (IID) organized two dissemination workshops titled “Increasing efficiency and inclusiveness in Agriculture: Findings of the Jute and Potato supply chain study” on April 9, 2012 and April 10, 2012 at BRAC Centre Inn, Dhaka. The dissemination workshop was attended by representatives from the government and large scale exporters, processors and cold storage providers. The discussion included the issues of availability and utilization of cold storage, the quality of potato seed available in Bangladesh and suitability of some of the potato varieties grown for processing and exporting.

En pleno desierto del municipio de Uribia, en la Alta Guajira, donde se alcanzan temperaturas que llegan hasta los 40 grados centígrados y los suelos son áridos, se recogió la primera cosecha de papa, un alimento que en nuestro país, solo se produce en climas fríos. Los cultivos se iniciaron luego de conocer la experiencia en Israel, país que apoyó la iniciativa de la Fundación Cerrejón para el Progreso. Inicialmente se reunió un equipo de expertos agrónomos, técnicos agropecuarios y especialistas en sistemas de riego, para las primeras pruebas con diversas clases de semillas, hasta llegar a la variedad denominada: Atlantic.

De organisatie Gentechvrije Burgers uit Lelystad heeft een zaak bij de Raad van State aangespannen waarin wordt geëist dat de vergunning die door het ministerie van Infrastructuur en Milieu is verleend aan de Dienst Landbouwkundig Onderzoek van Wageningen Universiteit voor proeven met genetisch gemodificeerde aardappelplanten wordt vernietigd. Wageningse onderzoekers willen in vijf provincies samen met BASF onderzoek doen naar de teelt van aardappelplanten die via genetische modificatie resistent zijn gemaakt tegen Phytophthora. Gentechvrije Burgers stelt dat er door de proeven een resistente bacterie in het milieu terecht kan komen waardoor het laatst beschikbare antibioticum tegen tbc niet meer werkt. De uitspraak van de Raad van State wordt binnen zes weken verwacht. (bron: De Gelderlander)

British farmers are warning of possible price rises and even food shortages after admitting they are struggling to cope with some of the wettest Springs in history. Acres of farmland are still unworkable after record rainfall levels were reported for the region during April. David Armstrong, chairman of the Lincolnshire NFU, farms near Bardney. Normally, he has completed planting as many as 170 acres of potatoes. This year, he has planted less than 50 acres. "There is no panic but obviously the yield could be down in Autumn," he said. Already, there are plans to import an increasing number of potatoes from Holland and Spain.

Akkar potato farmers suffered a serious blow this season after losing one third of their crops due to bad weather conditions, the local farmers association said Monday. The crisis was exacerbated by the increasing flow of smuggled potatoes from Syria. To make matters worse, Lebanese farmers are trying to cope with the soaring prices of fertilizers. “A ton of potato seed, which used to produce between 15 and 20 tons of potatoes, has only produced around five tons this year,” said Omar al-Hayek, head of the association.

National potato industry leaders have taken exception with the four-part HBO documentary "The Weight of the Nation" because of data it includes describing the role of spuds in the mounting U.S. obesity crisis. The series is based on an Institute of Medicine report released May 8 at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's "Weight of the Nation" conference. The National Potato Council questions the assumption in an HBO chart promoting the documentary that people consume their entire serving of fast food fries, estimated at 6.9 ounces and 610 calories on average.

The government may be pressing the panic buttons due to spiralling food prices, but it failed to read the writing on the wall five months ago when thousands of farmers across Haryana, Punjab and UP set ablaze hundreds of tonnes of potatoes on the streets to protest low prices and mounting losses due to a glut. Now, prices have shot up by nearly 50%. In December, angry farmers torched potato sacks on the streets of Jalandhar and Chandigarh and tonnes of vegetables lay charred or crushed under wheels of speeding vehicles on the highways. Farmers had claimed they were unable to even recover input costs for the last three years.

A former potato firm director has been told he faces a significant jail term for his role in a bribery scam with a buyer at Sainsbury's. Andrew Behagg, 60, from the food supplier Greenvale, was found guilty at Croydon crown court of authorising payments in return for lucrative contracts. He was part of a gang of white-collar criminals who overcharged the supermarket by nearly £9m and channelled money back to a senior buyer, John Maylam. The scam – described by Sainsbury's as the biggest ever crime against it – was uncovered when a Greenvale employee grew suspicious when he was asked to withdraw £5,000 bundles in £50 notes from a small local bank.

The Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange (ZCE), one of China's two agricultural commodities exchanges, is considering introducing potato futures trading among a raft of new agricultural contracts set to launch later this year, Qiao Jianhui, the exchange's media director, told the Global Times, without revealing a specific timetable. China is quickly working to diversify its futures markets, especially for agriculture products, in a bid to stabilize spot commodities prices in the face of mounting domestic demand, Guo Shuqing, head of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, the nation's securities watchdog, said at a media conference on March 29.

The Idaho Potato Commission (IPC) continues to expand its global reach, with a new international office serving Latin America launched in March 2012 and plans for a South Korea office to open this fall. The new offices join the IPC’s existing roster of international offices for Mexico, Asia, and Southeast Asia, which have helped propel the premium Idaho potato brand around the world. Idaho® potatoes are already sold in more than 15 countries, including Mexico, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore and Central American and Caribbean markets.