Potato World vision In search of the naturally talented Usain Bolt is a natural. At a stroke, he bettered the 100 metres running record by 1 percent to 9.58 seconds. It took others 35 years to progress 2 percent. In 1981, Dr D.E. van der Zaag needed only 4 minutes to tell his Audience that the maximum potential potato yield would be 100 tons per hectare. Today, 30 years and approx. EUR 500,000,000 investment in breeding later, we talk about approx. 120 tons/hectare - 20 percent progression! Is this enormous leap the result of diligent breeding work, natural talent or is it because of the extra CO2 that we produce or...? The Spunta is by far the biggest export variety and it is extremely difficult to convince our customers that there is something better. The Spunta and the Agria are varieties which have caused the ‘big leap forward’ and we have landed in the 1.0 percent margins with their successors. The standard is high and so we spend a lot more money on development to get our varieties ready for the absolute top. The quickest way to rub out our latest varieties’ weak spots is GMO (genetically modified organisms), but that is scary and legally complex in terms of plantbreeders‘ rights. That’s why we are still searching the interior of Africa for the new Usain Bolt; we do that by letting all babes from the same stock partake in running contests. So far, this approach has yielded the most successful selections. The professional breeding companies in Western Europe, some fifteen, with a total budget of around 25 million euros a year, still compete with the hobby breeders for the leader board in the market. However, this sport also commercialises, and one only gets to the top with the best contacts and optimum guidance, a top that must be shared with many, practically equal, opponents. Fifty years ago, we would not have thought it possible to find a high jump champion among the pygmies. Advancing understanding has made the gene pool very small, however, and we have to make do with the same material, until the new Usain Bolt is found. ● Peter van Eerdt Director Danespo Holland PW-ACTUA Innovations on Cramer potato planters The new Cramer Marathon Jumbo potato planter in the new colours will be presented on the APH Group stand at the Agritechnica exhibition in Hanover Cramer GmbH, manufacturer of potato planting machines, will show during the Agritechnica exhibition, held from November 13th till 19th in Hanover (D), a lot of new innovations. Cramer exhibits the complete new model Marathon Jumbo, which is a trailed 4row model with a renewed 3 ton hopper. Another innovation of Cramer are controls to adjust the planting distance to specific soil circumstances. The new Cramer machines can be Display with soilmap, connected to the speedcontroll of the Cramer potatoplanter equip ped with a GPS controlled variable planting system. The system makes use of soil maps and adjusts the planter accordingly. This system was demonstrated this spring already successfully at several clients of APH Noord, the dealer of Cramer machinery in the Netherlands. During this demonstration tour, it became clear again that the patented “Marathon” planting system is very suitable for the long, French Fry type, seed potatoes. Especially for export markets, the ridge forming unit was also improved. The system is fine-tuned, and can be adjusted according to different soil types and conditions. In order to hi-light the different innovations, Cramer changed it’s “looks” with new modern red-grey-black colours. ● Cramer GmbH is member of the APH Group; together with Dewulf, Omnivent, Bijlsma Hercules, Koning, Manter and Baselier, a full liner in the potato and vegetable mechanisation with its export head-office in Joure, Holland. Potato World 2011 • number 3 7 Pagina 6
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