CULTIVATION AND TECHNOLOGY Variety presentation 2012: in search of innovations Search for the tuber’s roots Innovation is found in cisgeneses ‘Innovation is, in the first place, learning about the inside of the tuber, the genes. That’s how you can select the genes you want’ is the view of Peter Oldenkamp, managing director for R&D at KWS Potato in Emmeloord. ‘This is the same as the search for the roots in the tuber, the marker system. Naturally, we also test how a variety grows and what the quality characteristics are, dry matter, for example. Instead of zooming in on how a variety grows in a particular area, we go back a step and look at the background. In the first instance, this causes delays, but after that initial period, things go much faster. We used to select varieties ‘that looked all right’. We now first map out the resistance numbers and then check how they are passed on. Working with markers is now a basic activity because KWS, our parent company, has a great deal of experience with finding and archiving markers. An example is nematode resistance, which we’re looking for within the entire range. A lot is already known about Pallida and Rostochiensis, we’re now working on stubby root nematodes. We don’t have any varieties from this programme yet, because they were only crossed ten years ago. We will have to wait a bit before this level is going to pay off. We expect this innovation will allow future varieties to develop faster and to a better standard than the current varieties in the market. It is, of course, important that we don’t lose our sense of the practical in this age of science. If a crossing misses a specific characteristic, you still need to keep looking at the different markets. It’s also important to explore whether it may have added value elsewhere. This means that trial fields will continue to be important in the future.’ ‘Breeding is the innovation pond in which the potato sector can fish’, Robert Graveland of trading company HZPC in Joure starts his response. ‘At HZPC, we look at what technology is possible to make things faster, different and better than any existing technology. But we should stick closely to the customer’s needs. Fifteen years ago, GMO seemed the innovation of the future. Due to its complexity and social aversion, it never made it. Meanwhile, new technology has been developed that is close to GMO. And I’m talking about cisgeneses. At this moment, we’re getting enthusiastic about this breeding technology because we believe in it. An advantage compared to traditional breeding is that you get newlydesired characteristics into the varieties much faster. Moreover, cisgeneses is a technique that is close to classic breeding. This year, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) announced that cisgeneses is just as safe as traditional breeding techniques. This means that scientific underpinning is at hand. America is much further with legislation and has said that cisgeneses is not the same as GMO. We haven’t reached that stage yet in Europe. We’re able to take big steps forward with cisgeneses where important themes such as sustainability, drought tolerance and fertilisers are concerned. In cisgeneses, molecular markers are also important. Due to the complex genetics of the potato, the use of markers has started a bit later than with other crops. We hope to be able to start cisgeneses in practice soon. It means that we’ll be able to stand out compared to other companies in the market.’ Potato World 2013 • number 3 21 Pagina 20
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