Irish horticulture minister Trevor Sargent has spoken out in support of the campaign by the republic’s growers for improved prices from the multiples.

Opening a national potato conference in Dublin last weekend he said he “stood four square” behind their fight for a fair return for their crops. And on the prices supermarkets are paying for potatoes - one of the key issues in an ongoing growers’ campaign - he called for talks with producers to raise both prices and consumption.

Despite its iconic place in Irish history, the potato has an image problem with today’s young consumers, said the minister. They seem to believe potatoes are fattening, unfashionable and time-consuming to prepare. In addition, there is increasing competition from other carbohydrates such as rice and pasta.

According to research by Bord Bia, Irish potato consumption fell by 12 per cent between 2002 and 2005. The downward trend is continuing, even though the average Irish household still bought about 190kg of fresh potatoes a year.

The minister, a former Irish Green Party leader, whose north Dublin constituency is a centre for horticulture, said he wanted to see the UN Year of the Potato used to popularise and promote the vegetable. “We need to return to the basics of growing and consuming more natural food and the potato can play a huge role in that.”

Nutritionist Paula Mee told the conference she wanted to dispel popular myths about potatoes and diet. Research showed, she said, that many people believe rice and pasta are healthier and less fattening. In fact, potatoes have been proved to have a lower level of fat, and a lower calorie count, than either rice or pasta.

Another conference speaker, Irish Farmers’ Association president Padraig Walshe, warned that unless growers get an increase of €150 a tonne for their crop, bringing the overall price to “a minimum of €450 a tonne”, the potato industry would be wiped out. Millions had been invested to ensure a top quality product was consistently available to packers and supermarkets, he claimed, but growers were getting up to €300 a tonne while retailers were charging the equivalent of €1,600 per tonne.

“The message is loud and clear - growers cannot survive on a fifth of the consumer price, nor should they be asked to do so,” said Walshe.

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