Research TTI Green Genetics looks ahead A TTI Green Genetics network meeting was held in Nieuwegein (NL) recently. Plant breeders and associates from the business sector got together to exchange information about the development of varieties. Loek Hermans, Chairman of Greenport Holland, presented a vision for the future of the horticultural sector which can be taken as an example for the potato branch. Subsequently, research manager Peter Bruinenberg gave a picture of AVEBE’s bio economics and everything that is involved in keeping this potato business running. Plant breeders and associates from the business sector came together in Nieuwegein to exchange information about the development of varieties. T TI Green Genetics is an initiative of the Dutch breeding sector which includes potato breeding. The organisation was established a few years ago to boost basic knowledge and share this with the entire sector. Among other things, this involves more collaboration between research and educational institutions. Sharing knowledge and collaborating is essential because the Netherlands may otherwise lose its leading position in the breeding world, is what the organisation had included in its articles of association. Well, the breeding sector is not the only one seeking collaboration. The horticultural sector is also working hard on joining forces. All branch organisations have been merged into Greenport Holland since February. The figurehead of this horticultural cluster is the notable Mr Loek Hermans, member of the Dutch Liberal Party in the Upper House and former leader of the SMEs (small and medium enterprises). During the meeting in Nieuwegein, he explained the challenges and problems he foresees in the collaboration and the problems they are already facing. An explanation the potato sector can also take up and use to their advantage. 40,000 agriculturists means 40,000 approaches ’Tomorrow, things could be different’, was the first sentence of Hermans’ talk. No, he wasn’t referring to the title song of a well-known Dutch singer, but it was meant as a serious warning. ’The horticultural sector is no. 1 in the world and we should do everything possible to keep it that way. We can only succeed if all of us collaborate. At the moment, there are around 40,000 horticultural SMEs in the Netherlands. Scale expansion means this number is still going down and the diversity is tremendous. There is the danger that everyone will be working individually for themselves. One of the negative consequences is that practice and research will become separated, which is not a positive development, was Hermans’ opinion. The money will go to those that can afFord it. If everyone wants profit for themselves, and for the Netherlands as a whole, a distribution across all branches of activity is what is needed.’ It’s therefore foolish to abolish the Product Boards, is Hermans’ view. ‘Individual companies may now be wondering, “What’s happening with all that money?” They should change this to asking: “Can I myself profit and how?” A specific problem in horticulture is that many businesses are still working with bulk products’, is Hermans’ conclusion. ‘It would be a good idea if businesses in the primary sector would look for niche products more. Keep your money in our stores’, said the Chairman in plain English. Each individual business should try and find out what opportunities there are in that area. Hermans thinks that there are opportunities galore. Just look across the borders, there is plenty of demand there. The Netherlands is an exporting country. Hermans realises that he may well be starting off with noble suggestions and that these may not immediately receive a warm welcome. There is still resistance from the primary sector where financial contributions to the Product Board for Horticulture are concerned, for example. One idea could be to lower these contributions by giving a tax reduction to entrepreneurs who contribute to the Product Board. Then people may think that they’ll miss the boat if they don’t contribute. Other agricultural sectors could also use that model, according to Hermans. ‘The objective is clear, its implementation is not so easy, though, because 40,000 horticulturists means 40,000 approaches’, is Hermans experience. AVEBE goes for the entire potato One of the studies in which the exchange of knowledge can help agriculture and horticulture take a step forward is bio economics. The potato sector is already a prominent example 26 Potato World 2012 • number 1 Pagina 25
Pagina 27Voor tijdschriften, online flyers en club bladen zie het Online Touch content management system systeem. Met de mogelijkheid voor een webwinkel in uw presentaties.
Potatoworld 2012/1 Lees publicatie 23Home