EUROPEAN shoppers are enjoying a greater variety of organic potatoes at more affordable prices, according to researchers at Newcastle University.

Several varieties suitable for a range of national palates and cuisines, are now on sale across the continent for the first time.

The European study was led by Newcastle University's Nafferton Ecological Farming Group, which found up to ten varieties which could be grown without chemical fertilisers and pesticides but which were particularly blight-resistant. Some are already on supermarket shelves throughout the continent.

"Designer composts" created during the project were shown to increase yields by up to 40pc. New and effective organic crop management strategies have also been tried and tested.

The results of the project, which involved 13 European partners, were presented to last week's Soil Association conference, at which the university was host.

One of the project's main objectives was to encourage more consumers and producers to go organic. Just 4pc of shoppers buy organic vegetables.

Among the organic potatoes newly available in the UK are two Scottish varieties, Eve Balfour and Lady Balfour, bred by the Scottish Crop Research Institute. Other examples include a "purple" potato from Hungary.

The organic farmers' main weapons against blight, which is extremely difficult to control, are mineral copper sprays, but even these are not popular with consumers.

Researchers found blight-management strategies, which would allow farmers to do away with the copper sprays but not at the expense of a smaller crop. "Until now, it's been hard to find varieties of potato that can be grown organically but can resist blight, and it's taken a lot of investigation to get this far," said Prof Carlo Leifert, leader of the research at Newcastle University.

There was no "one size fits all" solution to the organic problem. "A potato popular with the Swiss for dishes such as tartiflette and rosti, may not suit what the British consumer wants for baked potato, mash and chips," he said.

The blight-resistance project would eventually ensure organic potatoes would be more widely available and of an equal, if not better, quality and closer to the price of potatoes grown using chemicals.

"We hope we will then encourage more consumers and farmers alike to take the healthy eating option and go organic," said Prof Leifert.