a Sustainability in 2016 is all about balance TRADE AND MARKETING Peter van Eerdt, Danespo-Holland: ‘With Cronos, we can keep the next generation of potato growers in the saddle more easily’ Peter van Eerdt, Director of Danespo-Holland from Berltsum (province of Friesland), smiles broadly when we asked him the key question. ‘The Cronos comes to mind straight away. This is a new variety with high nematode resistance and a short growing cycle. If it’s about the connection between sustainability and resistance, then we’ll be able to keep the next generation of potato growers in the saddle more easily. And the Cronos is a large, fast-growing variety which means that you’ll need little input. In this case, it means a minimum of fertiliser and irrigation. For maturity it scores 7 (out of 10). After harvesting, the variety is usually exported straightaway as table potatoes. If I look at our longer-existing programme, I should also mention the Sarpo Mira. This variety grows the moment it’s planted. It’s highly resistant to Phytophthora and it’s really suitable for organic production. The only thing you still need to do is give manure and keep the plot free of weeds. I should tell you, though, that sustainability isn’t really a theme that Danespo-Holland likes to make a lot of fuss about although it’s an argument that earns goodwill with some customers.’ Jan Janse, Europlant Aardappel BV: ‘Varieties with good root systems can be labelled as highly sustainable’ ‘Which eye-catching, sustainable variety do we have? The answer that immediately comes to mind is a variety with a an be grown in many because they can be sold at reasonable prices. Consumers often find organically-grown potatoes too expensive. The variety is not at all difficult to grow. It doesn’t need a lot of nitrogen and water. The variety has a short dormancy and so it’s very suitable for transport to regions such as the Magreb (North Africa). As the Passion forms many tubers, it’s also a good variety for seed potato growers. We produce yields of 55 tons per hectare in the 28 to 55 millimetre sizes.’ good root system. In general, you can call them highly sustainable’, is the reaction of Jan Janse, Director of Europlant Aardappel BV in Heerenveen, after briefly considering our question. ‘When plants develop adequate roots, they can take up fertiliser more easily, so they’ll then need less. They’ll also be more drought resistant and won’t suddenly die after a temporary shortage of rainwater. We’re active in more than one growing segment with our varieties so I’ll mention a sustainable variety from each of them. For fresh and ready-touse table potatoes for the prepacking sector, Janse sees a sustainable candidate in the Regina variety. ‘This is a variety that doesn’t needs a lot of fertiliser. At all events, it doesn’t need much nitrate for an optimum yield. This is because of its strong root system which means the variety is efficient with minerals and it’s also less prone to diseases.’ In the French-fry segment, Europlant has two contenders that can be labelled sustainable as far as Janse is concerned. They are the Ottawa and the Donata. ‘These are two robust varieties that can deal very well with extreme weather conditions such as we had in the Netherlands this past summer. First a period of drought, followed by excessive rainfall. During the dry and hot month of July, both varieties kept growing well, and after the heavy rainfall, they did even better without any abnormal tuber formation. I think that many French-fry potato growers in Northern Europe this year will be labelling these characteristics as exceptionally sustainable’, Janse laughs happily. Potato World 2016 • number 1 13 Pagina 12
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