While potato production is declining in most of Europe, Denmark has doubled its commercial potato farming from 2006 to cover more than 60.000 ha in 2020, and in the Netherlands, potatoes constitute almost 25 percent of agricultural land use (~160,000 ha). In the Nordic countries commercial production is confined to the south of Finland, Sweden, Norway, and Jutland in Denmark. In the North, potato growth mainly happens at the scale of single households and smallholder farms. However, this tradition is locally threatened, and crop production in Northern Sweden has decreased with 50 percent since the mid-1990’ies.

EU farming legislation already takes strong measures to reduce pesticide use, however commercial potato farming at the same time faces problems with pathogens and pests that expand northward due to changed weather regimes; thus, farming conditions may drastically change in the years to come, with implication for the already established potato value chain. Longer growing seasons caused by climate change may on the other hand also swift the commercial interest towards potato growth in Northern Scandinavia as well as in Atlantic territories including Greenland, Island, and the Faeroe Islands.

Knowledge on advanced breeding techniques and sophisticated integrated pest management procedures have mainly been developed for southern latitudes. To support a sound expansion strategy for future potato farming in northern parts of Europe, the N’TOP-network will gather researchers and stakeholders with expertice relevant to the potato value chain. We have the following goals:

1. Map the range of potato farming, the current pest and disease monitoring efforts, and the IPM implementations in Nordic countries.

2. Explore the potential to expand potato growth commercially and privately in the North European region.

3. Create opportunities for stakeholders and researchers along the potato value chain to communicate and exchange ideas, knowledge, and protocols to build a knowledge-based strategy for the management of current and newly emerging pests and diseases and expansion of potato farming to arable areas in the North.

The N’TOP-network is initiated by partners from Sweden, Finland, Denmark, and the Netherlands: