HANDE L EN AFZ E T In addition to the potato market, potatoes are increasingly sold via supermarkets. his potatoes are grown in the Shangdu region. The potatoes are grown in sandy soils at 1,500 metres above sea level. All the necessary fertiliser is applied in one go here. Per hectare, 1,500 kg of 18-2646 NPK mixed fertiliser is applied. This area, in the province of Mongolia, is situated about four hours’ drive from the city of Beijing. That is fantastic if you think of the 14 million prospective buyers that live there. If you want to grow potatoes profitably in an area, irrigation is absolutely essential, which is why Xisen has invested in large pivots with a surface area of 30 to 40 hectares. To get water onto the land, 250 m-deep water holes must be drilled. Each pivot is fed by three sources. The managing director proudly shows on a map where they all are situated. Well, I must say that we had already noticed the enormous pivots when we were driven to the company. The crop rotation schedule that Xisen uses differs from the way this is done in Europe. Xisen grows potatoes on the same plots for two consecutive years, which are followed by one year of maize, cereal or red beetroot, for example. All potatoes, seed potatoes and also mini tubers are grown in 90 cm ridges. That’s easy of course, but it is not really optimal. In most cases, it is practically impossible to get the crop rows closed up. It is certainly difficult for the mini tubers, we noticed. The average yield of the consumption potatoes is approximately 35 tons per hectare, according to Xisen. Yields are low Like many big potato companies, Xisen has been working for some years now with well-known American varieties such as Shepody, Russet Burbank and Atlantic. In addition, Xisen grows a wide range of Chinese varieties with names such as Zao da Bai, Sen Lian no. 1, Sen Cai no.1 to 6 and his own variety called Xisen no. 1. The multiplication programme also has one Dutch variety: Favorita of the trading company HZPC. This is a variety of which economic and financial manager Jan Hoogenboom said the following in an article in a Dutch newspaper: ‘In the past, the Chinese copied absolutely everything. They did not respect any patent, including those from potato varieties. I think we once sent a container full of seed of our Favorita to China. Well, about every potato grown in China is now a Favorita. We have been able to prove that without any doubt via DNA testing.’ Xisen says that new varieties are important to be able to grow potatoes optimally in China. The old varieties do not produce enough. the yields are low and there is no resistance to diseases. 3 00 mi l l ion mini tuber s To change this radically, the Chinese company has invested heavily in a super-modern mini tuber production system. This year the company is producing the impressive amount of 300 million mini tubers at an equallyimpressive location. The business premises alone already have an imperial allure from the outside and give you the idea that you have entered the domain of an old dynasty. Before we were even able to leave the bus, director Liang Xisen had come out to meet us over the luxurious marble, with an entire camera team right behind him. After this imperial welcome, he showed us around his Walhalla, which was a completely different era, once inside. During this tour, the lord and master tells us that to provide the Chinese potato growers with sufficient seed, Xisen relies fully on the production of mini tubers. To be successful in this, he uses another location. At the YanQing branch where we are, we are shown through the division where rapid multiplication takes place. With the emphasis on rapid. Through the enormous windows of the sterile rooms, we see that a total of about sixty Chinese ladies are industriously cutting meristeme plants into random pieces to subsequently put them in pots filled with substrate. Other ladies, equipped with surgical masks, are disinfecting jars and lids by sweeping them through a flame, after which the lids are clicked onto the Liang Xisen wants to grow 40,000 hectares of seed potatoes in 2015. 20 Potato World 2009 • number 3 Pagina 19
Pagina 21Voor vaktijdschriften, online archief en sportbladen zie het Online Touch beheersysteem systeem. Met de mogelijkheid voor een e-commerce shop in uw kranten.
Potatoworld 2009/3 Lees publicatie 13Home