Irish seed official has advice for continuing healthy exports

Press, 19 November 1982, Page 25

Irish seed official has advice for continuing healthy exports

New Zealand's small seeds industry should be preparing for the day when Huia white clover loses popularity in Ireland and imports of that variety go the way of the once extensive imports of Ruanui and Manawa ryegrasses. A seed production and certification expert from the Irish Department of Agriculture. Mr Tim O’Sullivan, was in Canterbury last week on a tour of New Zealand organised by the N.Z. Agricultural Merchants Federation. ‘ Mr O'Sullivan said that Ireland used to import up to 400 tonnes of New Zealand ryegrass seed annually before that country joined the European Community. That trade rose to 1000 tonnes, but had dropped rapidly to near zero today. Ruanui had been superseded by mainly Dutch varieties and it was possible that New Zealand had found more profitable markets elsewhere. Manawa had. lost out to a lack of demand for hybrid ryegrasses and competition from the persistent Italian ryegrasses. • Mr O'Sullivan sounded a

note of caution about the future for New Zealand's exports of Huia white clover to Ireland, which are at present healthy. "You should prepare for the day when Huia is not so popular, because if you don t then Europe will find another source,” he said. He suggested more work in New Zealand on possible multiplication- of European clover varieties, which were mostly large leafed and upright so that they can be cut for silage above the surrounding pasture level. He did appreciate the quality control problems brought by trial stands of different varieties of clover but he contended that New Zealand was well placed to multiply European varieties for sale to that market. Some 80 per cent of white clover sold in Ireland came from New Zealand and this amounted to around 150 tonnes annually. He said that he thought this situation would continue in the short term because the Huia variety was well-known and well-performed. Red clover is not used in Ireland.

Mr O'Svllivan said that other varieties of New Zealand ryegrasses were under test in Ireland. Nui had yielded well in trials but in a recent test had been severely hit by a very bad cold spell, such as might occur only once in five years, and it had died right back. It had in effect failed the

test. although circumstances were right against it. he said. All N.Z. varieties suffered some damage in the winter, although usually not enough to stop people using them. Matua prairie grass had done well in trials in the United Kingdom and a significant quantity had been sold into Ireland recently.

Mr O'Sullivan said he expected Matua would fit into specialised pastures in Ireland. In the seed production and certification division of the Irish Department around 100 staff looked after cereals, grasses and potatoes, he said. The department also controlled cereal breeding, al-

though breeding for all other crops was undertaken by the semi-government body, the Agricultural Institute. Private breeders rights had been established for about two years but as yet there were no private breeders. A large part of Mr O’Sullivan’s work was the flow of breeding information and certification to other members of the Community, and to the Commissions headquarters in Brussels. 1 ' In the E.E.C. if one country registered a plant variety and placed that variety on the common catalogue then it was automatically placed on the national catalogues of all member countries after a period of time. A country could only exclude a variety from its national catalogue by showing why it wasn’t wanted. Once a species was listed only certified seed could be sold. ■ New Zealand had continued good access to the ■European Community and it should take every opportunity of expanding its pasture seed sales, he concluded.