UPDATE: 17/04/25 – DEFRA has taken the advice down from their website and therefore it seems that the virus is not present in the UK and it is fine to grow it.Â
I have been growing yacon, and writing about how to use it, for years now. This delicious South American root vegetable is easy to grow in our climate. However, I found out recently that there is some important news about yacon from DEFRA.
DEFRA (The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) has released some biosecurity advice regarding yacon and a virus which can affect potatoes: Potato Yellowing Virus. You can read their advice here. And there is more information here.
Yacon can no longer be legally imported into the UK. According to the information available, there does not seem to be any cases of the virus in the UK now, and this is a precautionary measure. Some of this advice is from 2022 and yet this is the first I have heard of yacon being of concern.
DEFRA says: “At this stage, the risks to commercial crops are low and Defra is issuing biosecurity advice on a precautionary basis. The advice is intended to be practical and provide realistic options, for those who have already imported or grown yacon, which if followed will keep the risk of spreading any infection to a minimum. If you have any further queries about yacon, import requirements or plant health controls, please contact your relevant plant health authority”
The virus affects potato and pepper plants, and is not harmful to human or animal health.
DEFRA recommends that yacon currently grown in the UK should only be for personal consumption. At the time of writing, yacon is still for sale in the UK from various reputable plant companies and it is perfectly legal for them to do so.
So, what to do? I have harvested my crop, which is currently curing on the windowsill and stored the crowns for next year’s harvest. I will grow it, and will certainly be observing for any signs of the virus on the yacon or on my potato plants. However I live in rural Wales and am completely surrounded by fields of sheep. The only potatoes or yacon grown for some distance are in my garden.
I won’t be selling or giving away yacon plants.
If you live near to farms growing fields of potatoes, or run a market garden or community growing project where there are lots of potatoes etc, you may wish to reconsider growing yacon.
Avoid buying yacon plants from sources which are not reputable, where there may not be the correct biosecurity in place. Obviously, never bring any kind of plant back to the UK from anywhere abroad.
Hi, as a yacon grower since 2014 I find this quite worrying. My personal feeling is that since my original rhizomes were bought from Real Seeds back in 2014, long before the suspect imports arrived, and I have been growing them in isolation ever since – they are all the offspring of my original yacon. The DEFRA directive seems to be a little too sweeping in its scope. Yacon are a wonderful food and it feels like there all to be more research into the claimed benefits for diabetics as the syrup is delicious. Happy gardening.
As far as I know, there are no issues with yacon being grown for personal consumption especially in cases like your’s – and mine – where they yacon has been grown in our gardens for some time
I have just received my first ever tubers of yacon from a reputable supplier in southern Ireland, thank you for the information. It is a little worrying.
I think it might only been in the UK
Yacon is my favourite plant by far and I grow it in the UK (far away from any potato growers and I don’t move it around much). I’ve been tracking the updates on this PYV virus and it seems that DEFRA have now updated their advice and they say PYV is absent in the UK. No mention of a yacon link with PYV on their website (unless someone else can find it)
Thank you Richard, this is great news. I can’t find it either, they have taken the pages down.
I think a key change they’ve made is that it now says “absent”. Before, (I am guessing) it was something describing “introduced”. However I suppose none of this is certainty, it’s still worth providing some thought to growing yacon near hobby/major potato growers and not moving the yacon around too much
The pages I linked to are not there at all now, so will keep an eye on things and update as necessary. Will try to find the advice re: selling it too