For two days in August Scotland will become the focus of a global business worth at least £3 billion - the rapidly expanding potato industry. It comes at a time when the humble tattie is being seen as a possible answer to food price inflation around the world.

On Thursday August 7 SCRI, Scotland’s world renowned centre for crop research and plant breeding, hosts Potatoes in Practice which is the UK’s largest potato industry field event.

The following day, Friday August 8, the UK’s biggest event to mark the United Nations International Year of the Potato will also be held in Scotland.

Hosted by SCRI, the Improving International Potato Production conference is a collaboration bringing together diverse potato industry organisations and two Scottish local authorities. This is the PROGRAMME of speakers and timetable.

Sponsored by Potato Council, Potatoes in Practice occupies an eight  hectare site on rich farmland overlooking the Firth of Tay. Last year’s event attracted 600 visitors including farmers from Australia, Egypt and Spain. The Scottish Agricultural College (SAC) and CSC Potatocare are also major supporters.

The UN conference is being held at Dundee’s Apex City Quay Hotel and will feature top figures from the potato industry and scientists from around the world.

An indication of the importance of the event is a visit by a delegation from China led by government officials from Beijing. Their leader is due to address the conference as are guests from India, the Netherlands and the International Potato Centre in Peru.

The potato is already an integral part of the global food system. It is the world's number one non-grain food commodity, with production reaching a record 320 million tonnes in 2007.

Potato consumption is expanding strongly in developing countries, which now account for more than half of the global harvest and where the potato’s ease of cultivation and high energy content have made it a valuable cash crop for millions of farmers.

The tattie is an important crop for Scotland which has a reputation around the world for producing good seed potatoes. The total value of the 2006 crop was more than £180 million.

The UN Year of the Potato conference has been organised by SCRI and its commercial arm Mylnefield Research Service Ltd with major support from the UK supplier Greenvale AP. Other sponsors include the Potato Council, and from local government Angus Council and Perth and Kinross Council. The event has also received support from the Dundee and Angus Convention Bureau.

Councillor David May the Convener of Infrastructure Services at Angus Council said: “The region is a very appropriate location for these events. Both Angus and Perth & Kinross are major potato growing areas. Between them they produce almost 50% of all the seed potatoes and main crop potatoes grown in Scotland.”

Branston Ltd., the UK’s leading supplier of potatoes to Tesco, is sponsoring a Potato Industry Dinner in Dundee on the evening of August 7 also at the Apex City Quay Hotel.

SCRI’s Chief Executive and Institute Director, Professor Peter Gregory said: “We are looking forward to welcoming to Scotland many of the leading figures in the international potato industry.

“The world is facing huge challenges to food supply and food security. The potato – unlike major cereals – is not a globally traded commodity. Only a fraction of total production enters foreign trade, and potato prices are determined usually by local production costs, not the vagaries of international markets. It is, therefore, a highly recommended food security crop that can help low-income farmers and vulnerable consumers ride out current turmoil in world food supply and demand.”

Greenvale AP Ltd.’s Chief Executive, Angus Armstrong, said: “We are delighted to support SCRI in their organisation of the UN Year of the Potato Conference. We have a long standing relationship with SCRI and are fully supportive of the significant role they play in enhancing potato production not only in the UK but throughout the world."

Potato Council seed and export manager Mark Prentice said: “With Potatoes in Practice and the Improving International Potato Production conference, the attention of the global potato industry will be focused on Scotland for these two days.

“The Chinese delegation underlines the importance of the two events, and this is a good opportunity to further trade relations with this key potential market. All the international visitors we are expecting will see the high health benefits British seed potatoes provide, and the fact we can demonstrate these is another key strength.”

Dr Nigel Kerby, Managing Director of MRS said “I am delighted that Dundee is the location for these important events since Tayside is a world-class centre for potato R&D, breeding, high-health seed production, growing packing and processing. Many of our local companies, many being SMEs, are dependent on the potato.”

Visit the online registration page to book your place at the Improving International Potato Production conference. See the Potatoes in Practice page for more information about attending on August 7.

More information about the UN International Year of the Potato is available on the International Year of the Potato website.