TRADE AND MARKETING Is climate change a topic for potato breeders? for multifunctional varieties. “It’s important to get a minimum rate of return in a market where customers often have to accept rock-bottom prices. This is only possible if you have good yields, which means continuity is important.’ To find those good, new varieties, De Nijs has joined forces with Fobek. So he now travels all over the world with the Fobek material. He has laid out trial fields in important marketing areas to test the potato varieties. An example of such a variety is the May. This chip variety reaches a high underwater weight very quickly and needs fewer growing days to achieve a top production. Chip industries in the Netherlands and Egypt have both shown an interest in this variety. Another strong card De Nijs has is the Red Valentine. This red-skinned potato variety promises opportunities in the Désirée segment. It is a strong and sustainable potato that needs little water and nitrogen and has a good yield every year, whatever the climate. nations must simply be highly resistant to heat. And we sell these varieties, says Jan Sr. He proudly points to the boxes containing the eyecatchers of their company. ‘This is the Metro, a chip variety that does extremely well in a dry climate. We are having this variety trialled in Egypt. They are very pleased with the first harvest results. The variety shows a constant yield and quality and that is an important characteristic for a potato that has to grow under stressful conditions. The fact that you do not always need new varieties to be successful in dry and hot regions is proved by the continuing popularity of the Spunta, says Van der Lee. ‘Spunta is still the best. You’d have to do very much better to find a replacement for that variety.’ Even Dutch processing plants use them, confides the potato merchant, which proves that the Spunta is quite an incredible variety. If it ever gets very hot and dry in Northern Europe then we still have the Spunta. What Van der Lee has found in recent years, however, is a growing demand for varieties with good scab resistance. Whether or not the climate change has anything to do with that, he cannot say. ‘Late varieties always more risky’ “The climate has been our priority for years”, says Michel de Nijs in response to this important question. “We are looking for varieties that have better resistance to extreme weather such as drought and heat. In this context, we noticed in our own trial fields that a few varieties were showing very promising features after the last two or three dry summers. And that’s exactly what we’re looking for. All potatoes grow well under ideal circumstances. What we need is for them also to do well in extreme weather conditions. Early growth is becoming increasingly important for this. Late varieties are getting more and more risky’, is De Nijs’s firm view. Early varieties mature earlier and need less water. De Nijs is also looking 16 Potato World 2010 • number 3 Pagina 15
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