But Solanum sysimbriifolium – which Islanders may have spotted covering some Island fields – is none if these. It is a ‘trap crop’ planted to fool a voracious predator of our precious Jersey Royals.
Otherwise known in the UK as ‘sticky nightshade’, this plant spotted in fields above Val de la Mare reservoir grows to around four feet tall and at this time of year produces red tomato-like fruits from green, spike-covered husks, with purple and white flowers atop its long stems.
Environment Minister Steve Luce said that ‘prickly potato’, as it is known locally, was being used to combat potato eel worm – potato cyst nematode – which had become more of a pest in recent years. ‘The prickly potato is extremely sharp, so you wouldn’t want to try walking through it – it’s a bit anti-social,’ he said.
Deputy Luce said that although pesticides were also being used against eel worm, the real answer was crop ‘rotation’, which meant only planting potatoes in the same field once very three years.
‘If you have say 200 vergées, that means using only 70 vergées a season, which is a really difficult decision to make,’ he said. ‘But we’ve got to deal with the eel worm.’
William Church, sales and marketing director at the Jersey Royal Company, said they had been carrying out trials with ‘prickly potato’ for several years. ‘We have seen populations of eel worm decreasing, but you need a whole year to see the results. The soil samples are tested in our laboratory.’
Mr Church explained that the plants produced an odour in the soil that attracted the eel worms. ‘They think there are potato roots there, so the cysts hatch, but then starve and die.’
He added that the company also sowed ‘hot mustard’, producing fields of yellow flowers that were flailed and dug in, releasing a gas into the soil that also killed potato cyst nematodes.
However, responding to Deputy Luce’s comment on crop rotation, Mr Church said that although the company did try to work with the dairy industry to provide pasture, leaving fields empty of crops was a financial ‘challenge’ for a firm farming over 8,000 vergées. ‘We rent land, so we’re spending without getting any income.’
He said the bigger challenge for the industry was potato blight, carried by airborne spores, which the company was tackling by monitoring weather conditions to reduce the need for pesticides.
