The British potato industry has the growers, technical expertise and supply chain capacity required to increase national output and strengthen food security. However, delegates attending the recent Potato Industry Growth Summit in London warned that future growth will depend on secure and dependable access to water.
The event, organised by GB Potatoes and the National Potato Innovation Centre, concluded that water must be regarded as a strategic resource for food production, rather than an optional input.
Increasingly erratic rainfall, combined with restrictions on water abstraction and irrigation, could lead to a further contraction in the British potato area, reducing production and weakening the sector’s long-term competitiveness.
More extreme and irregular rainfall
The summit took place between the second and third heatwaves of the year, placing water availability at the centre of discussions.
Over the past decade, the UK potato sector has faced significant droughts in 2018, 2022 and 2025. Spring and summer rainfall has also remained below long-term averages in many parts of England this year.
At the same time, the winter of 2025/26 was one of the wettest on record, while excessively wet spring conditions affected potato crops in both 2023 and 2024.
Delegates noted that rainfall is becoming less regular, with longer dry periods interrupted by more intense rainfall events. These conditions reinforce the need to capture water when it is available and store it for use during the growing season.
Potatoes need around 3.46 million litres per hectare
A potato crop requires approximately 350 millimetres of water during its growing cycle, equivalent to around 3.46 million litres per hectare. This requirement is met through a combination of rainfall, moisture stored in the soil and irrigation.
Water shortages during key stages such as tuber initiation and bulking can reduce yields, restrict tuber size and damage overall crop quality.
The industry therefore considers reliable irrigation essential not only for increasing production, but also for maintaining the consistency and quality required by processors, retailers and consumers.
Domestic supply has lost ground
According to Defra figures for 2025, the UK required 7.1 million tonnes of potatoes, of which domestically grown produce covered 71% of demand.
At the beginning of the century, British production supplied approximately 90% of national potato requirements. The decline has increased the country’s exposure to imports and highlighted the strategic importance of reversing the downward trend in domestic output.
Scott Walker, chief executive of GB Potatoes, warned that water is fundamental to maintaining current production and indispensable for any future expansion.
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“Without reliable access to water, we will see further reductions in domestic production, greater volatility for growers and processors, and increasing reliance on imports,” he said.
Walker added that such a scenario would weaken food security and could result in jobs and investment being lost from the British supply chain.
The sector calls for long-term planning
Summit participants called for coordinated water planning involving government, regulators, water companies and the agricultural sector.
Among the proposed measures were simpler planning and licensing procedures for on-farm reservoirs, policies that encourage water storage during wet periods and continued investment in irrigation infrastructure and water management systems.
The industry also underlined the importance of research into potato varieties with greater tolerance to drought and flooding, as well as production systems capable of adapting to more extreme weather conditions.
Alongside water security, the summit addressed other strategic issues, including potato consumption, plant health, crop production systems, sector policy and workforce development.
