CULTIVATION AND TECHNOLOGY Variety presentation 2012: in search of innovations Potato breeding is usually a tombola Breeder Sjefke Allefs of Agrico Research in Bant first has to think hard before giving a well-chosen answer. ‘Well, in my view, innovation is about creating something that’s better than what you already have’, he starts off aptly. ‘We work for an innovative company. Our basic attitude is always to look how we can improve our work with an eye to the future. We must be innovative both as regards genetics and breeding methods. An example of innovative breeding is recording the data from the fields of crossings by modern scanning methods. We’ve placed a golf ball with a built-in chip in each field, which sends signals about what’s happening in that field. Potato breeding is usually a tombola with the occasional positive result. It’s not always possible to explain why certain crossings that look promising on paper won’t provide a variety, while less successful ones end up providing a good variety. It’s a numbers game to discover the right variety, because mistakes in breeding are costly. The provision of genetics is our core business, but we still have a long way to go. For example, only a fraction of the available, natural genetic variation has been used so far. The trick is to find sources now for characteristics that may be interesting for the potato sector in fifteen years’ time. Gene banks can supply this material. What it boils down to is to know now which genes will play a role in the characteristics you want to have in so many years’ time. Then you can look at existing variety collections to see whether these particular genes are already available. With innovation in genetics, the crux is to know now which genes are responsible for the desired characteristics of the future. If you know that, you can target your search at material that’s already available and also use specific crosses with wild varieties. Roll out the market and tackle problems According to Erik Appeldoorn of the Irish potato trading company IPM, with a Dutch branch in Deinum, you should divide innovation into breeding and market. ‘On the breeding side, we’re especially keen to anticipate newly emerging problems in the sector. How can I work innovatively with varieties? For example, we’re looking at how to tackle Erwinia and we want to be able to give an answer to increasing salination. This is innovation within breeding and we do this together with our head office in Ireland. We’re also engaged in a feasibility study with a view to producing non-soil bound minitubers. We’re also trying to be innovative commercially. Thirty-five percent of our sales price is spent on logistics. How to economise on that, that’s an innovative challenge for us. One way is to examine and adjust the transport flows to and from the Netherlands and France. You can do that by more local cultivation and marketing in the target country. Here, in the Netherlands, the growing capacity is limited, which is why IPM has also established a branch in France, and expanded its cultivation in Scotland by taking over A.J. Allen. Varieties are important where innovation is concerned, but other divisions are equally relevant. For example, we’re going to start a seed potato division in Brazil and roll out a link there to the consumption potato sector. We’re still looking for suitable partners. Innovation, that means optimizing your entire business in order to provide the market better.’ ● Leo Hanse and Jaap Delleman Potato World 2013 • number 3 23 Pagina 22
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