P o t a t o w o r Journal for the Potato sector • number 3 • 2010 Modernised Europatat allows companies as members > page 4 7 PW-actua 11 New Potato Cyst Nematode policy forces growers to look ahead 25 The world of Potato Research 26 Potato World dish 26 Agenda l d CONTENT: Is climate change a topic for potato breeders? > page 14 Climate change turns world upside down Extreme weather conditions have been filling the columns of the newspaper articles in recent months. Pictures from Haiti, Pakistan, China and Russia, to mention but a few countries, remain etched in our memories. What a tremendous impact nature can have on the daily lives of people, not to mention the effects on the food supply in the coming months. The cultivation of potatoes is also susceptible to the impact of climate change. In Western Europe, we will not have top yields this season due to the late spring and a hot, dry summer followed by weeks of continuous rain. We are also hearing from other parts of the word that top yields are not expected. For contract growers, this means that they will receive little or no benefit from the higher prices on the European potato futures market this year, since a contract is mainly attractive if you can harvest a lot of kilos from a hectare. This results in a low cost per kilo. To give a good picture of the economic performance of a farm, I prefer to talk of the cost per hectare – or acre, if you like. One way of adjusting to the changing climate is to breed stronger varieties that produce stable yields, even when growing conditions are difficult. The role that climate change in fact plays in developing new varieties is covered extensively in this issue of Potato World magazine. The responses we received from the various breeding stations are sometimes as surprising as the weather itself. ● Jaap Delleman Potato World 2010 • number 3 3 Pagina 2
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