r TRADE AND MARKETING 18 promising French fries varieties for the entire world Long Messi with high tolerance to Meloïdogyne chitwoodi ‘Our most promising French fries variety? Kamal Smid can tell us all about it’, Jan van der Lee junior of Agroplant in Medemblik responds in-between jobs. And yes, Smid runs straight to a box full of big KM-03-69-11 potatoes. ‘This is the Messi, we only just got the name in, so it isn’t yet on the label. Named after the Argentine professional football player Lionel Messi. He is specifically known for his height and speed, to which he owes his nickname La Pulga (The Flea). That length aspect can also be found in the very promising Shepody x Bellini crossing of the Dutch breeder Harm Kannegieter. Along with its somewhat rectangular shape and high yield, 75 to 80 tons per hectare according to Kamal, you can cut quite a lot of fries. Processor Farm Frites has seen that as well and they are already testing the Messi. It will be used in the fast-food sector as this variety is white-fleshed. Poland and Egypt have already shown an interest in growing and processing this variety. In the Netherlands, it is possible to grow the Messi on the sandy soils, because of r a long time consumption market last year. It was shown in recent years that the variety has a long storage life and can be kept at higher temperatures than the Innovator. That saves on energy costs. On the whole, the tubers are big, 80 to 90 percent are bigger than 50 mm, according to Geersing. Also worth mentioning is the claimed resistance to Pallida; we are still waiting for the final results. The demand for this variety is high and includes countries from North Africa and Israel. ‘We can sell 1,000 tons of seed but, unfortunately, we only have 10 tons available right now. A luxury problem’, sighs Geersing. At any rate, the variety lives up to its name: it is already a celebrated star before it has seen the stage. its high tolerance to Meloïdogyne chitwoodi. Furthermore, the variety also has ABC resistance to potato cyst nematode and probably also wart disease, but that hasn’t been tested yet. Its underwater weight is also good: ‘411 grams, just right’, says Kamal grinning broadly. The Ottawa is easy to grow ‘We’re still building up the range of French fries varieties at Europlant,’ apologises breeder Hans-Reinhard Hofferbert, ‘but we’ve made a good start’. And one fine result from the new nursery of the German breeding station is the Ottawa. A mid-early variety, purely for the French fries of the European market. As the three most important characteristics, Hofferbert identifies length, high dry matter content and frying quality. The more detailed description for length is that 80 percent of the tubers are bigger than 50 mm. And also that the average trial field yield is 70 tons per hectare. For a potato with a neat, smooth long-oval shape this is an excellent score Moreover, the breeder is very impressed with the ease with which this Ottawa is grown. It doesn’t need any extra nitrogen, and doesn’t suffer from hollow growth or second growth. And there is another characteristic that, strangely, is rarely mentioned: the taste. It is really delicious. When it comes to colour, these French fries potatoes are very well liked. Like the Agria, the Ottawa has a nice pale yellow flesh and it will, no doubt, do well in Europe, Hofferbert expects. However, consumers will have to wait a while before it is actually presented, because that is planned for 2014. Until that time, the variety is still being tested by Farm Frites and McCain. Potato World 2012 • number 2 13 Pagina 12
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