GROWING Pontiac potatoes is nothing new for fourth generation potato grower, Troy Bensley and his family, but shipping them to Fiji is.
Mr Bensley runs Stillbrook Potato and Pastoral Company at Crookwell in partnership with his parents, John and Sandra and his wife Nicola.
They run a 100-hectare mixed farming operation of certified seed potatoes along with a Poll Merino stud and 500 head of Merino ewes.
Potatoes are the mainstay for the family, producing about 30 tonnes of potatoes a hectare annually, varying with the seasons.
About a month ago they received an email from a research company in Fiji for a large order of Pontiac potatoes to be shipped in 20 kilogram bags.
“We received an email from Patrick McGreesh, on behalf of Sigatoka Research Station in Fiji, to see if we grew the Pontiac variety and if we did, could we supply them with an order,” Mr Bensley said.
“It was just fortunate we were able to fill the 10-tonne order.”
But accommodating the order was no mean feat, equating to 500 bags in total, packing the potatoes into 20kg bags was time consuming and labour intensive.
They also had to coat potatoes with two dusts, one insecticide and one fungicide, to meet quarantine standards.
“We had to think carefully about taking up the request,” Mr Bensley said.
“These sorts of orders are labour intensive so you have to weigh up if it’s worth it.
“We used to ship to Norfolk Island, only giving that away two or three years ago because of the smaller orders being more labour exhaustive.
With only four potato farmers left in the region, the Bensleys’ work ethics are steadfast, stemming from Troy’s grandfather, Max, and his three brothers, who would manually dig up more than 20ha of potatoes a year with a fork.
These days, machinery has alleviated some of the manual work, but growing potatoes still requires long, dedicated hours often starting at daybreak and not finishing until well into the evening.
The family grow about five varieties with Sebago, Atlantic and Carisma their main three, along with Pontiac and Virginia Rose grown in lesser volumes.
Their spuds are shipped to South Australia, the Atherton Tablelands, Riverina, Bundaberg, Maitland, Robertson and Dorrigo, as well as to smaller clients situated in western Sydney.
Growing seed potatoes means changing paddocks every year due to the five-year rotational rule.
Mr Bensley said because of its climate and isolation, Crookwell was the perfect place to grow potatoes and avoid disease.
When asked if this was going to be an ongoing contract, Mr Bensley said he couldn’t say for certain.
“I think it is just a case of ‘seeing how it goes’.
“Maybe Fijians would like to grow seed potatoes themselves, but I don’t think their climate will allow them
to farm potatoes at a sustainable level.”
In 2010, potato farming was introduced into Fiji through the Import Substitution program to reduce the country’s potato imports.
According to an article in the Fiji Times about the agriculture ministry’s plan, the cultivation of potatoes in Fiji would reduce the importation of the tuber by $5.3 million annually, equivalent to growing nearly 450ha of potatoes.
But principal agricultural officer, western division, Sugrim Chand, was quoted in the article as saying Fiji would always have to import potatoes and would never be self sufficient.
He was reported as saying at best, imports could be reduced by as much as one-third by the Import Substitution Program implemented by the government.
“We are very seasonal and can only grow one crop a year,” Mr Chand told the Fiji Times.
“Because of this we will never be able to totally fulfil the local market demand.”
Fiji imports as much as 18,000t of potatoes annually at a total cost of about $19m, it was reported.