Inglaterra: Intensive potato farming on Jersey must stop
Jersey’s Environment Minister Steve Luce, says that farmers must change the way they grow Jersey Royal potatoes, in order to protect the Island’s reputation as a world-class food producer.
Farmers currently use the century-old practice of growing Jersey Royal potatoes year after year in the same ground, but the discovery of the chemical oxadixyl in Jersey’s surface water supplies, 13 years after it was last used, means they need to rethink their practices.
The presence of oxadixyl forced Jersey Water to shut down Val de La Mare reservoir and divert streams away from other reservoirs. Luce described it as a ‘wake up’ call for the industry and as a result, he said that farmers now needed to work with the States to find an alternative to relying on chemicals.
Oxadixyl was used up to 2003 to control potato blight but was replaced by a new product and it is not a banned substance nor are there any known health risks from its application.
However, since it was discovered in ground water throughout the Island in January routine water testing of public, private and ground water sources have been stepped up six-fold.
Source: jerseyeveningpost.com
Fuente: http://www.freshplaza.com/article/155713/Intensive-potato-farming-on-Jersey-must-stop
