Inhibiting sprouts with ethylene is simple, safe and harmless CULTIVATION AND TECHNOLOGY ing. How the dosage operates and what influence it does or doesn’t have, we are now accepting it the way it is. It works! What we have discovered, though, is that, as soon as you stop treatment with ethylene, the potatoes start sprouting like mad. Already after ten days you have enormous sprouts. You don’t have that effect when you use Chlorine IPC. This was explained to me simply and clearly not long ago. Imagine those potatoes as two runners that are ready to go and each of them is being held back with a rope. One rope represents Chlorine IPC and the other ethylene. The runner with the Chlorine IPC rope is also hit firmly on the head which makes him rather dazed. The other runner is only tied to the rope with ethylene and without being dazed he is getting ready to really go. When both ropes are released the runner of the Chlorine IPC rope is still wobbly because of the after-effect of the blow, while the ethylene rope runner can make a flying start. When the potatoes stored with ethylene come out of storage they must be packaged and transported to the consumer as quickly as possible. Moving fast is the motto. This is a point to consider. We are now trying to find out whether we can delay that ‘after-sprouting’ with further storage testing. We think that we can be successful if we don’t start too early with sprout inhibition. Don’t start too early Noteboom himself has not started too early with sprout inhibitors. The first lot in storage were the Carreras, which he stored on 26 August, which were followed by Challenger, Melody and Victoria. Treatment of all lots in the new store was only started on 26 November. Until our visit at the end of February, not a single box from all the lots was showing any kind of sprouting, which is already quite something if compared to other sprout inhibitors. The fact that the ethylene spreads really well and quickly through the entire store is something Noteboom can see every day. ‘I ventilate the storerooms for 10 minutes every day to lower the CO2 concentration. During ventilation, the ethylene also disappears from the storerooms. A few minutes after getting rid of the CO2 the percentage of ethylene in each storeroom comes back to its original level.’ With the help of ethylene, Noteboom hopes to be able to keep his Pommonde potatoes in store until June. ‘The longer the sprouting is prevented and the quality of the potatoes remains at the proper level, the more bonuses I will receive for the skin quality. At the start of June the added value is 14 to 15 percent of the basic price.’ Relying on experience of others Although Noteboom’s experience with ethylene is fairly new, he can rely on the knowledge and experience of this buyer and the British colleagues who led the way. ‘So far, ethylene appears to be a properly active and safe means of storage. The dissemination technology is not fire-hazardous, which happens to be the case with Chloride IPC, neither does it damage the skin of the potato; it disseminates much better than most other storage agents and it does not leave any harmful residues behind. It also makes ethylene a more flexible sprout inhibiting agent,’ is the view of both Van de Ree and Noteboom. ‘Once used in a store, you don’t have to worry that it will leave harmful effects from residues. There is no problem with storing common s0wing seed and planting material afterwards. It can even be used in seed as a sprout-regulating agent. Ethylene has recently received an official go-ahead for various applications for potatoes and onions, also for organic potato growing. Some points of concern Despite the many advantages, the current application of ethylene is not optimal in every aspect. The rapid ‘after-sprouting’ is still an area of concern. In addition, ethylene, including the use of Restrain equipment and lease payments, can only compete economically with standard methods with a storage capacity starting from of 1,000 tons of potatoes, calculates Van de Ree. ‘This could, of course, quickly change when more users start using the ethylene method. At Nedato, there are only six growers that use ethylene at this moment. It may be possible to buy the equipment in future, but it is still questionable whether that will be cheaper. All lease equipment is returned to the supplier in Great Britain after use and is then serviced in order to start a new lease of life in the next season. At this moment, ethylene is also being tried out at other companies. One of the trials involves a study into the possibility of whether table potatoes can be stored one degree higher using etyhylene, not 4 degrees but 5 degrees Celsius,’ says Van de Ree. This should lead to energy and cost savings. Whatever may follow in terms of research and improvements, the first Dutch growers, among which Noteboom, have already taken the plunge. As the situation is now, no doubt many more store managers will follow. ● Who has used ethylene once, doesn’t have to be afraid that it will leave harmful effects from residues. There is no problem with storing common sewing seeds and planting material afterwards. Leo Hanse Potato World 2009 • number 2 25 Pagina 24
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