THE POTATO BAN

Press, Volume LXXII, Issue 21865, 19 August 1936, Page 8

THE POTATO BAN

REMOVAL NOT IN SIGHT The report some months ago that something “was going to be done*’ _in the matter of lifting the Australian ban against New Zealand potatoes has, apparently, “ended in smoke.” This is neither thfe first nor the second occasion that this has been the case. There appears to be no sincerity in these oftrepeated statements that the Government “intends to take action” to have the ban removed. It would seem that these’.periodical reports are for the purpose of paving the way for the acceptance of Australian oranges here. At the moment there is no market scope for the export of New Zealand potatoes to Australia, but with the unreliability of the Australian production the opportunity may present itself at any time, and it would be useful for the obstacles to be reihoved in readiness. Australia, even more than New Zealand, is using less potatoes than was the case a few years ago, but there is a legitimate reason for this in the Commonwealth. Consumption must naturally be reduced with the wholesale price ranging from £ls to £25 a ton, as is often the case in Sydney. This decline in consumption is the natural and inevitable result of Consumers haying to pay extravagant prices. Once the popular taste for a commodity is lost, it is not easy to bring it back, and Australian growers are probably finding this is the case with potatoes. The interesting side of the Victorian attitude is that that State has been exposing more diseases recently than all the other States combined. A few weeks ago powdery scab was discovered, and it caused some disturbance in departmental circles. The affected districts were placated in some form or another, but the trouble was scarcely smoothed out when another took its place. The Queensland authorities put an embargo on 1000 sacks of Victorian potatoes which were affected by rhizoctonia. The Queensland authorities, it is' stated, are now prepared to lift the embargo if merchants advise purchasers to treat the potatoes with corrosive sublimate before using them as seed.

According to a Melbourne report, it is conceded in the Victorian trade that rhizoctonia disease exists in nearly all the growing districts in Victoria, but it is said to be common to all States. As the potatoes in (juestion have been passed by the Department of Agriculture in Victoria, it is feared that the export of Victorian potatoes to Queensland may be brought to a standstill indefinitely unless the Departments of Agriculture in Melbourne and Brisbane come to an arrangement whereby the present difficulties will be removed.