CULTIVATION AND TECHNOLOGY Organic sector struggles with cultivation and marketing footprint of organic potatoes is indeed more positive than that of conventional ones. A footprint indicates how many grams of CO2 are emitted for a quantity of 1,000 kilograms of potatoes from their growth in the field until they are put on the shelves. For an end product such as crisps and chips, the footprint is about 120 grams of CO2. Approximately twothirds of this is used in transport and processing and one-third, 40 grams, in cultivation. In organic farming, these ratios can be 5 grams less, with the largest CO2 gain coming from fertiliser. ‘The sector is urgently in need of Phytophthora-resistant varieties that comply with the needs of the market’, is Ariaan Straver’s conclusion from results of variety comparisons. ies is far from ideal. Interestingly, more than half come from the conventionallygrown varieties. This is a finding that the organic growers in the discussion also clearly recognise as a shortcoming. Many compromises Both conventionally and organicallygrown varieties actually emerged as compromises, Straver’s story revealed. Take the Annabelle. ‘A Nicola type of variety, which is a fine, tasty table potato, developed for the conventional potato sector. Very popular with German consumers, partly because of its yellow flesh. A particularly suitable variety for export. When organically grown, the Annabelle doesn’t do very well, the demo also showed. It is highly susceptible to Phytophthora and is not really thriving.’ Is it the lack of cultivation experience, or is it really susceptible to Phytophthora when organically grown?, Straver asks himself aloud. On the other hand, there is also a purely organic variety such as the Bionica. It’s Phytophthora resistant, has a reasonable kilogram yield and has the right sizes. The only problem is that it’s white-fleshed, which makes it difficult to export. And when we look at the other varieties, we also notice a large discrepancy between market opportunities and cultivation characteristics. ‘This obviously shows that the sector is urgently in need of Phytophthoraresistant varieties that comply with the needs of the market’, is Straver’s conclusion. This is also one of the conclusions of the subsequent discussion ‘From Problem to Solution’. Footprint as a selling point What the sector also lacks, according to those present, are distinctive selling points. Does the consumer fully realise that organic cultivation is beneficial to the environment? One possible way to underline this is perhaps to give a positive mark for the footprint of organic potatoes. The question is whether this footprint is actually so positive and what that mark should be. Professor Anton Haverkort, who works at Plant Research International (PRI), has a few figures available. The British researcher Dr John Hillier developed a calculation tool a few years ago to calculate the footprint of products. Haverkort has made this calculation tool available for the cultivation of potatoes. He has made a distinction between the various growing methods. According to Haverkort’s calculation, the Bumpy terrain Haverkort’s explanation was followed by another brief discussion about the fact that the calculation tool did not include the capture of CO2 in organic matter, for example. Organic farmers work a lot with green manure crops and manure and, as a result, the organic matter content of the soil is often higher than in conventional farming. The footprint aspect in the ‘From Problems to Solution’ discussion falls under the question ‘What can we ourselves do to stimulate the market’? Other questions addressed here were: how do we get field quality in the shops, what can we do to improve grading and packaging, and how can the marketing chain be improved? The discussion was the high point of the knowledge exchange organised by BioImpuls. The day’s chairman, Harm Brinks of DLV Plant, created smaller groups to keep the discussion constructive. After thirty minutes of discussion, the outcomes were exchanged in a plenary session. There was no disguising the fact that the sector still had some bumpy terrain to smooth out. This is in contrast to crops such as carrots or cabbages, for which marketing is going very well. Why is it that the potato can’t keep up? Declining market People in the group who knew the market had various arguments for the difference. They pointed out that the organic potato is operating in a declining market. In 2010, the sale of fresh potatoes in the shops dropped by 2 percent. Pasta and 30 Potato World 2011 • number 4 Pagina 29
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