Policy TH E WOR LD OF T he Netherlands Ministry of Agriculture supplies Wageningen University and Research Centre (WUR) annually with many hundreds of millions of Euros for education and research. Part of this research is contracted and has to be carried out to support the ministry in making well founded policy decisions: so called policy support research organized in various themes such as plant health, biobased economy and sustainable production and so forth. The theme that has my special interest is the theme Policy Support International. Most of the funds to carry out projects within this theme can be requested by agricultural counselors residing at Netherlands’ embassies in developing countries and upcoming markets. Such projects may aim at contributing to solutions in the receiving country or to facilitate mutual market opportunities or both. Presently counselors in seven countries successfully requested funding for Wageningen to assist them. Here I briefly mention the countries and the research and development issue addressed by Wageningen researchers and their national counterparts. In North Korea we investigate the severity of the incidence of late blight and how joint breeding efforts in the Netherlands and North Korea may reduce losses and contribute to food security. Annually researchers make trips and share experiences and where possible material. A proposal for additional assistance from the EU was recently funded. In China we help to facilitate the desire of Fujian Province to technically assist the resource poor Region of Ningxia by trying to buy seed potatoes for their winter crop from Ningxia thereby adding value to Ningxia’s potato crop. The first Ningxia produced seed tubers were successfully tested in Fujian which in future may rely less on seed from Heilongjiang. The project is extended to include sustainability issues of potato in several provinces. In the Philippines all potato processing depends on imports of frozen products for quick service restaurants and fresh potatoes are imported for the local production of chips. We jointly investigate the conditions needed to produce part of the chipping potatoes in the Philippines at Mindanao where larger scale production seems feasible than at Luzon Island. Indonesia has a relatively high cost of potato production which in part may be due to the sub-optimal use of inputs, especially chemicals to fertilize the crops and to control pests and diseases. An improved use of such resources with the aid of decision support systems thereby increasing yields may lead to a better sustainability performance of the potato crop. In South Africa potato fields in the Sandveld are using part of the very biodiverse fynbos natural habitat resources such as land and water and risk emission of chemicals. Together with the national potato growers organization, nature conservers and the University of Pretoria we establish and quantify susPOTATO R ESEARCH tainability indicators through a crop growth model and surveys that can be monitored and improved to satisfy all stakeholders involved. Potato farms in Mexico can be divided in large holdings in the Northern Plains producing for the extensive chips industry and small farms in the Central Highlands that produce for the fresh market. Both types of production are at relatively high costs (two to three times higher than in neighboring America) and make extensive use of water and chemicals. Here we carry out similar exercises as in South Africa especially with the chips industry and their growers. Argentina aspires to reduce the costs associated with controlling and losses due to late blight. Here we cooperate to establish monitoring systems of weather and occurrence of blight pathotypes and on genetics of both the pathogen and the potato. The leading principle of all the projects in which we cooperate is sustainable production aimed at the optimal use of resources in potato as to improve food security, optimize the use of land and water and to minimize emissions of chemicals to the environment while adding value to the various links of the potato supply chain. ● Anton Haverkort anton.haverkort@wur.nl Potato World 2010 • number 2 41 Pagina 40

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