TRADE AND MARKETING Sustainability in 2016 is all about balance Jeroen van Soesbergen, Plantera: ‘Vitabella is a variety that always produces well’ ‘We’re still a young company and we’re still working things out. Sustainability is certainly a theme we’re working on but, after only one year, we naturally don’t yet have a handful of homegrown varieties at our disposal’, Jeroen van Soesbergen, jointowner of Plantera in the village of Marknesse replies to our question. ‘If you hear sustainable, you naturally think immediately of Phytophthora resistance, which quickly brings you to our Vitabella variety. This Vitabella is one of the table potato varieties that Plantera, when it was set up over a year ago, took over from KWS-Potato in Nagele. ‘The variety has recently been designated by the Louis Bolk Institute in Zeist, among others, as one of the most robust Phytophthora-resistant varieties we currently have. This mainly means that the Vitabella is a variety you can rely on and which always produces a guaranteed yield, which is not only good for the grower, but also for the buyer. In the organic sector, the continuity of supplies may be a problem at times, because yields are very low in years with high Phytophthora pressure, and when the pressure is low, the yields are high. With a variety like Vitabella you can always fill the shop shelves. Incidentally, it’s not only a variety for the organic sector, it’s also a great variety to grow under conventional conditions. If things carry on this way, I think we’ve reached the exact point that sustainability’s all about: to make sure we leave a world to the next generations where food production remains possible with a minimum input of fertiliser and chemicals.’ Theo Meulendijks, SchaapHolland: ‘Valencia combines a good number of tubers with an aboveaverage kilogram yield’ Seed Product Manager Seed Theo Meulendijks of Schaap Holland in Biddinghuizen needs time to think about it. After about half a minute, he still provides a relatively quick answer. ‘Then I think that the Valencia may have lots of possibilities in this area’, he describes it still a bit cautiously. ‘This new variety combines a good number of tubers with an above-average kilogram yield. If you compare it with the Bintje, it has a 20 percent higher yield. It’s a chip potato with a very good length, a smooth skin and a squarish shape. This means you can cut a lot of chips from them, leaving very little skin and waste. Furthermore, the Valencia doesn’t need a great deal of nitrogen, and definitely not as liquid manure.’ According to Meulendijks, seed potato growers are also happy with the sustainable characteristics of this variety. The many tubers will be particularly appealing to them. ‘On average, twelve tubers per plant.’ The sales prospects for the Valencia are excellent, Meulendijks says briskly. ‘The variety is being fully trialled and tested by processing company McCain in the Netherlands, and by processors in Belgium, Germany, Egypt, Great Britain and Turkey, for example. The fact that the variety is also performing well in distant, hot countries is also an indication that it is drought resistant and needs little water’, emphasises the Product Manager. ‘As far as Phytophthora is concerned, you’ll have to spray, so in this area the variety is a bit behind in sustainability’, says Meulendijks. 16 Potato World 2016 • number 1 Pagina 15
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