Restrictions on potato imports as pepper ringspot virus hits South Africa

The Government has moved to restrict the importation of potatoes and potato seeds from South Africa due to an outbreak of pepper ringspot virus, a senior Government official has said.

Pepper ringspot virus affects potatoes.

In an audio recording released to the media, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development, Professor Obert Jiri said the restrictions are meant to protect the local potato industry.

“There is an outbreak of a pest in South Africa for potatoes called pepper ringspot virus, as the Government, we are taking measures to ensure that we do not risk our potato growers.

“We will restrict from now on the importation of potatoes so that we protect our farmers from the ringspot virus. It is important that all importers of potatoes comply with this directive during this period as we do further assessments,” said Prof Jiri.

He added: “We are therefore on the watch because that might also affect our potatoes and potato farmers.

“We are sending our teams to South Africa to have a closer look at the situation and we will continue to monitor the situation as a country and as a region to ensure that our farmers are protected and the pest is restricted to where it started.”

PepRSV is a significant pathogen of cultivated potato producing arcs and flecks of corky in potato tubers rendering the entire crop unmarketable.

PepRSV is transmitted in infected planting material and plant products through host material transfer from pest-infected areas to pest-free areas and this negatively affects domestic and international trade and export potential of relevant host commodities.

Prof Jiri added that potato seed importation is also on top of the agenda.

“We will not be allowing importation of potato seeds unless it’s really cleared. At the moment we will want to see the protocols. We will be much more comprehensive to ensure there is no risk to our potato growers.”

Zimbabwe has a well-established history of potato production.

Apart from giving high returns per invested dollar to the farmer, the crop contributes significantly to the nation’s food security.

As such, the Government declared potatoes as one of the strategic crops to enhance food security at household and national levels.

In May 2022, the Government launched the Potato Value Chain Financing Facility at Parklands Farm in Norton, which is part of the country’s import substitution intervention strategies to boost productivity and profitability in the potato value chain and expand the country’s starch options.

The programme is meant to ease the shortage of the seed potato, which has resulted in the country importing something in the region of 60 percent of its requirements mostly from neighbouring South Africa.-chronicle