LONDON, Nov. 13 (UPI) -- Dutch seed potatoes grown for export contain a bacteria that causes a devastating disease, the London Independent reported Thursday.
Known as ring rot, the disease has been confirmed in a Welsh farm -- the first ever in Britain, agricultural experts announced. Ring rot outbreaks have cut U.S. potato harvests in half, according to Britain's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
The department said that if ring rot were to become established in Britain, the potato industry would suffer direct yield losses and the effect for the seed potato industry could be "substantial".
The Farmers' Union of Wales said that the spread of the disease could cause a "catastrophe" in the country's potato industry.
Dutch authorities were being contacted to identify other British locations to which seed of the same variety and origin may have gone.
Buyers of any potatoes from the affected Welsh farm will be traced and the relevant authorities informed, the department said.
