TRADE AND MARKETING Starch potato cultivation: make it a contest! THE CAPACITY OF POTATO HARVESTERS IS GRADUALLY INCREASING Five machines demonstrated their potential during the lifting demonstration, all two-row bunker harvesters with hoppers and a capacity that suited the number of acres of the present starch potato farms. ‘Seven or eight years ago, quite different machines were being shown at lifting demonstrations’, says Bert Huizinga of DLV Plant. The capacity of these bunker harvesters is definitely larger.’ The potatoes of the Seresta variety were harvested with a WKM 8500, a De Wulf RQ2060, a Grimme SV260 and an AVR Spirit 6200. The latter two machines are new. New also was the Grimme SG5060/Zibo FR02 combination (photo), a front lifter. The front lifter harvests two rows and puts them crossways between the two adjacent ridges. The bunker harvester lifts those two ridges and simultaneously picks up the harvest of the front lifter. This bunker lifter is especially equipped with two half-diabolo rolls and lifting shares over the entire width of two potato ridges. ‘The sifting capacity of the Grimme is sufficient to expand the lifting capacity of the front lifter’, says Richard Korver of DLV Plant. ‘Without the front lifter, the four bunker lifters have a speed of approx. 6.5 km/hr; the front lifter combination has a speed of approx. 5 km/hr. This means that the combination has quite a lot more lifting capacity with a relatively low investment. A self-prOpelled four-row machine is much more expensive. An advantage of this combination is that you can also use the tractor outside the lifting season.’ The demonstration made it clear that it is important to reduce the speed to be able to process the large quantities of soil and foliage without the loss of potatoes. Despite the wet weather conditions before the lifting demonstration started, the Serestas were delivered relatively clean. AXION YARA N-SENSOR Variety improvement is an important instrument to improve one’s yields, says Lieuwe de Jong of Averis. ‘The rise in yield for starch varieties is out of line when compared to the rise for consumption varieties; one of the reasons being the focus on resistance. Another important reason is the narrow crop rotation. But there will be new varieties, such as the Axion, which will yield 10 percent more than the existing starch varieties.’ The Yara N sensor has been developed to measure the crop’s need for fertiliser and adjust the application to those calculations. This should lead to more efficient applications.. 26 Potato World 2011 • number 4 Pagina 25
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