CULTIVATION AND TECHNOLOGY Variety presentation 2012: in search of innovations What is innovation? Van Dale’s Dutch Dictionary is brief. Innovation is simply a synonym to introducing a novelty. The usual run of things for the Dutch potato breeders, you would say. Certainly, if you consider the full trays of new varieties and numbers that were being admired at the variety presentations in Emmeloord at the beginning of November. But does it stop there? How about breeding techniques, innovations in the market? Views and experiences where innovations are concerned sometimes differ a lot, as became clear during our search for novelties with the companies participating in the show. Focus on peeling department ‘Renewal - or innovation, if you prefer, is something we’re very familiar with’, is the immediate answer of breeder Theo Meulendijks of Schaap Holland in Biddinghuizen. ‘These are terms that are at the basis of three pillars in our company: the peeling department, the cultivation and trade of French-fries and table potatoes, and the export trade. The focus is mainly on the peeling department because we’re able to compare the effects of innovation immediately. My specific task is to translate any changes in the peeling department into new varieties. A few standards I need to consider are that the tubers are shallow-eyed and easy to peel. This needs to be combined with resistance to easy damage and a squarish shape as much as possible. What we’re increasingly attempting is to develop a multi-purpose variety. You can also call that innovation. A fine example of that is our new Cartegena variety, which has been developed for the table potato market in order to meet the popular demand for red-skinned potatoes with deep-yellow flesh and an excellent taste. The demand doesn’t only come from abroad, but also from consumers within the Netherlands. The crop farmer is, naturally, interested in the yield, and during the testing period the Cartegena produced a yield of 65 tons per hectare. The variety is also very suitable to be used for fresh-peeled products. It already starts with a good presentation owing to its beautiful yellow flesh. Also, this variety has an excellent usage potential and a high resistance to mechanical influences during the peeling process. We don’t see any grey discolouration after boiling or any blue discolouration after processing. In short, the Cartegena has a very high yield, with a maximum loss of 5 percent.’ Potato World 2013 • number 3 13 Pagina 12
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