A coalition of trade groups called on U.S. officials to bring the long-running trucking dispute between the U.S. and Mexico to an end, saying the situation is costing jobs and cutting exports. On a conference call with reporters, John Keeling, executive vice president and chief executive officer of the National Potato Council, said potato growers are being hit particularly hard by tariffs on frozen potato products.

The government is considering raising cash incentives for potato export to help growers get fair price amidst bumper production, officials said. Production of potato has been estimated at 8.0 tonnes against the government's target of 7.2 tonnes, they said hinting that the growers were now selling their produce much below their production cost.

The European Union may have reached a tipping point in its awkward relationship with GMOs. This week, it quietly gave the green light to farmers to grow fields of genetically modified potatoes. It marks the first time that Brussels has approved any GMO cultivation since a moratorium 12 years ago.

NEW approval for in-furrow application of thiomethoxam insecticide Actara at planting could give seed potato growers over five weeks post-emergence aphid control, says Syngenta. The in-furrow treatment has gained approval in time for this season’s seed crop planting in Scotland and the north of England.

Despite the decision by the European Union last week to approve the cultivation of a GM potato, plant scientist Eoin Lettice argues that consumers will only accept the technology when it provides tangible benefits for them.

Pakistani potato export registered a decline of 40 percent during the current year up till now in the wake of lack of competitive edge as compared to the Indian commodity. During January, February and March the export of potato is in full swing as compared to the rest of the months of the year. In the previous year 2009 Pakistan had exported around 250,000 metric tonnes of the commodity while this year till the end of March it is expected to be in the range of 150,000 metric tonnes.

It took 14 years, but German chemical giant BASF has finally won approval to start growing its Genetically Modified Potato (GMO) called Amflora, for industrial purposes to make starch, but the decision drew immediate scorn and anger from an activist group and a European lawmaker. The decision to give the go-ahead came from the EU’s new consumer chief, John Dalli of Malta, through a statement issued by the European Commission, which shuns news conferences.

Mit der Anbauzulassung der gentechnisch veränderten Kartoffel Amflora durch die Europäische Kommission am 2. März geht ein 13 Jahre andauerndes Zulassungsverfahren zu Ende.

Spanien lehnt sich in Sachen genmanipulierter Kartoffel ziemlich weit aus dem Fenster. Während Italien sich dagegen aussprach und Frankreich weitere Forschungen unternehmen will, ehe sie das neue Gewächs zum Anbau freigibt, hat Spanien erklärt, diese Pflanze sei unbedenklich für die menschliche Gesundheit.

A tariff imposed by Mexico on some agricultural and processed food products is hurting Washington farmers, with potato growers feeling the brunt of the nearly year-old trade dispute. Mexico last year levied a 20 percent tariff on more than 90 U.S. agricultural and industrial products worth an estimated $2.4 billion. The move came after expiration of a pilot program that allowed a limited number of Mexican trucks access to U.S. highways. The tariff in part contributed to a $19.7 million decline in the value of exported Washington agricultural products - excluding soybeans, corn and rice - to Mexico in 2009 compared with 2008, according to the Washington Department of Agriculture.