TRADE AND MARKETING The most promising varieties that meet the most important market trends SAPRODI ‘The trend we’re following is still quite new and rather unique. What we’re after are double-purpose varieties for the traditional starch potato areas. In view of the fact that governments are currently cutting their subsidies, starch potato growers in Europe are looking for opportunities to widen the market. They see possibilities in growing varieties that are also suitable for the potato-flakes industry. This particular branch has expanded enormously in recent years and it was no accident that they set up their business near the starch industries. What we need for a profitable double-purpose crop are varieties with a wide nematode resistance to both Rostochiensis and Pallida and also, of course, resistance to wart disease. Moreover, this crop needs to KWS 06 1069 ‘If you ask me what the most important trend in breeding and marketing is, for us that means adaptive power combined with dry matter content. We’re working a great deal with table potato varieties suitable for export to the Mediterranean countries. Generally speaking, they still have a relatively-low underwater weight. What we’ve noticed is that the demand for crisp and French-fry potatoes is increasing. The varieties that are grown there such as the Spunta and similar ones are not really suitable for processing. You also see that the dry matter content is often not high enough to make chips or crisps without problems. We’re trying to improve on that by crossing good, big, table potato varieties with high dry-matter content ones. The additional advantage is that varieties with a higher dry matter content usually are less susceptible to stress and diseases. This also applies to bacterial infections. And that’s good news for our seed potato growers here who can grow the necessary planting stock without any problem. The cross result that we aimed for is the KWS 06-1069, a big, exportable Frenchfry variety. It has some American blood and that points to the strong adaptive power that varieties such as Russet Burbank and Shepody also have. The KWS 06-1069 is not only suitable for cultivation in the countries around the Mediterranean, it’s also a multi-purpose variety that sells well in Eastern and North-West Europe.’ Jarke Kruize, Semagri, Lelystad: ‘Double-purpose variety as an escape for the starch grower’ have good and long storage properties, at least until June, and should produce few sugars. The latter is the most important. In general, starch varieties are not suitable for processing into flakes, because they contain too many sugars. The most promising variety we can offer is the Saprodi, which yielded at least 20 tons of starch per hectare during the trials. That’s almost twice as much as a common starch variety. This means that the starch potato grower now has an escape in growing for another market as well.’ Peter Oldenkamp, KWS Potato, Nagele: ‘More adaptive power and higher dry matter content’ Potato World 2014 • number 2 15 Pagina 14
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