RE SEARCH Organically and conventionally-grown potatoes brought together in BioImpuls Bioconnect in 2008, in order to start with the preparations. We also received money from a public tender by the Ministry for a project in which all available knowledge is put together to market a high-qualityproduct. We are currently cooperating in the European CO-FREE project, with which Brussels gives a clear signal that it is serious in wanting to ban the use of copper in all countries. The Louis Bolk Institute stopped its research into treatments long ago and, via CO-FREE, we are now trying to give new resistant varieties a place or an opportunity in the organic market. Last year, we ran the first pilots with the Bionica variety by marketing them as Nieks Witte in fancy packaging. We’re going to do the same with the Vitabella variety from KWS Potato and the Carolus from Agrico. We’d already spotted the Sarpo Mira from Danespo, which we’ve been able to place in the organic chips segment of processor McCain in Hoofddorp. Are you happy with the progress of this project? ‘I’m proud that our idea to give more priority to variety development in BioImpuls has been a success. For the first time, we now have fourth-year clones. At the start, we’d expressed the hope that we would be able to send around ten usable clones to the trading companies every year. And we’ve succeeded in doing that. Moreover, I didn’t think at the beginning that, apart from Niek Vos, there would be so many other farmer breeders interested in the breeding work. What I mean is the search for breeders, a search which we started a few years ago, and is linked to a breeding course. The course is so successful that we’re going to have the sixth edition next year. I think that’s fantastic. The organic sector is too small to organise a full breeding programme by itself. But if we can find a framework within which farmer breeders can contribute on a “no cure no pay” basis, it might become interesting. The Dutch farmer breeder model is a fantastic instrument for that. The Netherlands is also the only country in which organic farmers work together with commercial breeding stations, while organic farmers in other countries who also do some breeding are usually loners. Participation breeding also fits in with the philosophy of organic agriculture.’ How do you explain the success of the breeding course? ‘We originally set up the course to win organic breeders for the hobby breeder system within the BioImpuls programme. We then thought that, if we had five to seven breeders after five years, we would be very happy. At this moment, however, we already have thirteen enthusiastic breeders in the programme. Gradually, more conventional breeders and growers have joined, who want to enhance their knowledge. We also see that professional breeding stations have started to send their breeding people to the course with the idea that you can still learn a lot from the other participants and the expertise of course leader Jan van Loon. And it’s also thanks to Jan’s enthusiasm that the course is doing so very well. Not only can he speak with such passion about his profession, he also has an enormous amount of visual material. He’s a master at getting the message across. The fact that this has also led to the publication of a manual, makes the story complete. I’m now talking about the Manual for Breeding (Handboek kweken) that will be on sale at the next PotatoEurope in Emmeloord. Anyone interested can already order it now, via the Aardappelwereld, for example. An additional effect of the course is that it’s giving new élan to a Dutch tradition of hobby breeding. More young people are coming forward and the membership of the Potato Breeders Association is increasing again. From now on, the course will be entirely run by the three AKVs in the Netherlands in close cooperation with the Louis Bolk Institute.’ So, are you pleased? ‘So far, BioImpuls has been the most wonderful project in my career. I’m a bridge builder. I like to bring people together, like the organic and conventional sectors have been brought together in the course. I also hate it if things are done twice. Organic and conventional are sometimes doing exactly the same things. You can use the actors much better by working together. A wider approach often results in broader support; this applies to research funding as well as acceptance by the entire chain and by society. We’ve been lucky that Ronald Hutten offered us his entire pre-breeding programme with Phytophthora resistances. It meant that BioImpuls was able to jump on the bandwagon, so to speak. We’ve been able to make full use of the possibilities of that moment. And what is the next spearhead within BioImpuls? ‘What our organic potato farmers and the potato trade are now waiting for is that Europe decides that only organic seed may be used from now on. That’s no longer a problem in the Netherlands. If growers have to use conventionally-grown seed when there isn’t enough organic seed, they continue to pay the higher price of organic seed. That’s not yet the procedure abroad, where they won’t pay the higher price of real organic planting stock as yet. Both the trading companies and the primary sector would very much like other countries to tighten up the rules, because it would create the opportunities for the Dutch organic seed potato sector to export their planting stock. That’s what we’re good at. Our organic growers could then really earn something with their crops. When opening up the market, an area expansion could possibly offer opportunities for growers of organic consumption potatoes.’ ● Leo Hanse Potato World 2013 • number 2 7 Pagina 6
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