In Finland, fire destroyed up to 20% of seed potato production

On the night of Friday, November 6, a warehouse complex with an area of about 4 thousand square meters burned down in the Finnish municipality of Tyurnjav (Northern Ostrobotnia region). More than 4 million kg of potatoes were destroyed in the fire, most of which was seed material, Yle reported.

According to Hanna Kortemaa, director of the horticulture department of the Finnish Food Administration, the damage from the fire amounted to up to a fifth of the total seed potato production in the country.

Seed potatoes are specially selected tubers designed to plant and produce a new crop, not for food.

“From a farming perspective, this is a terrible tragedy,” said Paula Ilola, director general of the Centre for Seed Potato Growing.

The Finnish Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry held an emergency meeting after the fire on Friday. The meeting discussed measures that will help ensure the production of seed potatoes in the coming years.

Tyurnävä and neighboring Liminka produce about 70-75% of all Finnish seed potatoes. This area is considered a high quality zone and has only three analogues in Europe - in Germany, Ireland and the Azores. There are strict regulations in place to protect plants from disease, and demand for pure seed potatoes is constantly growing.