Does climate change also have an influence on variety development? TRADE AND MARKET I NG Jos Bus (r), TPC: ‘Salinisation of farmland is a longstanding problem with in breeding as a result of changing climate is the salinisation of the agricultural areas. This is happening in several regions in the world, and it’s also an issue that we’ve increasingly seen occurring in some potato cultivation areas in Europe. ‘Well, what do you include under climate change, is it a change in temperature or the fact that we’re slowly sinking into the sea?’, laughs breeder Jos Bus of TPC in Dronten when he gets to answer the question. But more seriously: ‘No, of course, I've got clear views on that. One of the issues we already have to deal Salinisation has already been an issue a lot longer in the Middle East, in Israel for example. As the cultivation areas are highly saline there, those are the places where we can test new varieties for salt tolerance. We select climate-resistant varieties by how haulm and tubers react to these conditions. If you look at the Jan-Eric Geersing, Caithness Potatoes: ‘We’ve been working on salt tolerance for quite some time’ According to Jan-Eric Geersing, breeder for the Scottish company Caithness in Emmeloord, climate change is not directly a selection criterion in breeding. Climate change is more often a question of shifts in crops. ‘Potato growing is disappearing from areas that have become too dry and too hot and is moving to regions where the climate has changed in favour of the potato. In areas where potato growing is still possible, adjustments may be required. If you look at the Netherlands, you see that the problems are increasing at the end of the growing season. It’s not really possible anymore to grow the very late varieties. In our country, growers have started to focus more and more on the middle-early and middle-late varieties. We can, of course, start gearing to those, but that's not really necessary, because we’ve already got them. We’ve been developing varieties for all types of climatic conditions for many years. What will happen is that the late varieties will move to regions where it’s still possible to harvest late without too many problems, and the middle-early and middle-late varieties that are doing well somewhere else, will move to here. The only breeding factor you might be able to ascribe to climate change is salt tolerance, which is a characteristic that’s already been keeping us busy in our breeding work for many years’, laughs Geersing. ‘We already have salt-tolerant varieties for areas which suffer from salinisation. There are also increasing numbers of regions in Europe where the soil is turning saline and we have suitable varieties for these areas on the shelf. weather extremes we had in North-West Europe last year, you could well say that they were very welcome for our work. You can then make a clear shift in your breeding programme. We have, or rather we had, a promising young French-fry variety in the making which was being developed for potato cyst nematode and frying quality, for example. Last season, however, a large percentage showed growth cracks, so we decided to stop developing that variety. While only last season we'd agreed to speed up its introduction because of its excellent marks up to that moment. We’re glad that we discovered it so early in the selection stages. If you discover this a long way after the introduction, you’ve got a much bigger problem.’ Potato World 2017 • number 2 31 Pagina 30
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