biofresh - Potato sprout supression

 

News - Free Ethylene advice service for the potato industry

10 Jun 08


In response to growing demand for residue-free potato storage techniques, biofresh - the country’s most advanced supplier of ethylene control systems, in association with Air Products -  the world’s largest producer of ethylene, have joined forces to help growers and packers answer any burning questions surrounding the use of ethylene, with the launch of a free advice service.


 

Ethylene, which occurs naturally when fruit ripens, can be used to delay the sprouting of potatoes when introduced into the refrigerated crop store. In natural light, it degrades rapidly leaving no harmful residues, making it an attractive alternative to more traditional chemical methods.

 

The use of ethylene on potatoes is fully compliant with current UK regulations. At the moment, the EC is reviewing the licensing of all pesticide active ingredients and ethylene is now in the process of being included within this review.

 

To help growers and packers understand more about the qualities of ethylene and the legislative process it is going through, the new ethylene advice service has been created to allow users to tap into a wealth of expertise, provided by senior members of the biofresh and Air Products teams.

 

Harry Smart, Chairman of biofresh, who manufacture the systems that control ethylene in the stores, explains why he has launched the service: “Ethylene offers significant benefits to any company needing to store potatoes for any length of time. It is a highly effective sprout suppressant and, most importantly, it is totally harmless to people – leaving no chemical residue whatsoever. The control of ethylene in the store is relatively new technology and with the complication of EC involvement and subsequent licensing arrangements we thought it would be of benefit to the industry if we offered a free service to de-mystify the whole issue.”

 

Jim Bishop, UK Product Manager for Air Products, said: “Not surprisingly, there is some confusion as to the licensing arrangements which may be in place following the introduction of EC registration. We wanted to make the process as clear as possible with growers and to give total reassurance that they can buy their ethylene from Air Products and their control systems from biofresh with absolute confidence.”

 

To find out all there is to know about ethylene, its use in potato sprout suppression and the EC registration process, visit the special ethylene advice website at http://www.ethyleneadvice.co.uk/, where you can access the full facts and have all your individual questions answered by a team of experts.

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no chemical residues