However, the Ministry of Regional Affairs and Agriculture says this does not mean national food supply is under threat, even as the spectrum of varieties of Estonian-grown potatoes falls.

"If there really is a shortage in the future of some initial seed with the required level of varietal purity, then the gene bank still holds these crops, and it is possible to resume seed production from them," said Tõnis Tänav, deputy secretary general at the ministry.

The Maaelu teadmuskeskus (Rural knowledge center) in Jõgeva, 140 kilometers southeast of Tallinn, says it has several years' worth of vegetable seed stocks in store, with the exception of seed potatoes. This is because potato seeds cannot be kept in storage for over a year without spoiling.

The Jõgeva center is in any case ending vegetable seed production on the grounds of it being uneconomical, and tubers may be next on the list.
While the seed cultivating itself is straightforward, production of seeds for sale has been operating at a loss for several years, leading to the conclusion that producing seeds in-house is no longer reasonable.

"The major reason is actually that our volumes are small, the equipment we currently use for seed production is worn out, and the work is a manual one — in other words, very labor-intensive. Consequently, costs have risen, yet revenues have not kept pace," said Andre Veskioja, the center's director.

The hope is that the private sector might step in to take over seed production, Veskioja added.

However, Evelin Loit-Harro, professor of sustainable crop production at the Tartu-based Estonian University of Life Sciences, said that is not a certainty, again due to economic realities.

"Estonian potato growers are facing a relatively difficult time at present. The likelihood that the private sector will be able to take over the growing and storage of seed potatoes is relatively low, because there is a lot of risk in the market. Our market is small, and especially the fact that seed potatoes must be virus-free requires dedicated laboratories and specific staff, whom it seems to me we are simply unable to find on the market today," Loit-Harro said.

"There is certainly a price threshold somewhere at which the private sector will step in; negotiations are ongoing at the moment," Veskioja argued, and said this might bring down price to consumer too.

"We would like it to ultimately become even cheaper, but at this point we are not making any unfounded promises," he added.

Loit-Harro said private sector involvement leads to less diversity when it comes to Estonian varieties on the market. "If we look at who grows Estonian varieties, these tend to be small producers and small families, so the range of those varieties would likely shrink," she said.

As a high-calorie carb containing nutrients such as Vitamin C and potassium and having a long storage life (around half a year) as well as high yields from crops, potatoes are a good value staple, though they lack some nutrients such as necessary fats, calcium, and Vitamin B12.

Potatoes arrived in Estonia from Western Europe around the mid-18th century thanks to the Baltic German social strata which administered much of the land at the time. While initially viewed with skepticism, the tuber was gradually adopted until, as elsewhere in northern Europe, it became a staple part of the diet. More palatable strains are likely to have been cultivated over time, too.

The peak of potato farming was during the 1960s and 1970s. Estonia was known in some circles as the "Potato Republic" as a result, and in 1964, Estonia produced 1,148 kg of potatoes per capita, second in the world behind Poland.

Last year's potato harvest was particularly poor, however, thanks to the dismal spring and summer.

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