CULTIVATION AND TECHNOLOGY yields and easier work’ Pre-sprouting with the brake on. That’s how the use of ethylene in seed potatoes is sometimes described. The treatment gives the grower flexibility in the spring, because the seed can be placed back into storage after grading or if the weather unexpectedly changes. But, above all, ethylene increases numbers and yield, concludes crop-protection company Ten Brinke on the basis of trials and practical experience. n addition to methods such as immediate planting after taking the seed from cold-storage, pre-sprouting, box rotation and pre-treatment with Talent, ethylene is rapidly gaining a permanent place as a potato sprout inhibitor. Ethylene ensures that the top sprout dominance of the tuber is disrupted, while the sprouts remain short and stocky as long as they are exposed to ethylene. Several seed potato companies in the important Dutch seed potato cultivation area of the Northeast Polder are already widely using the technology. And it’s no coincidence that it’s the Northeast Polder that’s ahead of developments. Crop protection company Ten Brinke in Creil has been the exclusive dealer (on behalf of Restrain) for the anti-sprouting system since 2010. Restrain is also directly active in the Dutch and many international markets. Ethylene gas technology was first developed for the residue-free storage of consumption potatoes and is also used for onions and other products. I Trial boxes After four years of experimenting, Ten Brinke and its customers have gained quite a bit of experience with seed potatoes. Starting with one storehouse, four growers and only a few varieties in 2010, ethylene use has now increased to 43 stores, 75 growers and 60 varieties covering approx. 1,500 ha. Growers outside the Northeast Polder, in the eastern, south-western and northern parts of the Netherlands were also able to gain experience this year. The interests of new customers are aroused, based on a tried and tested method. First, growers are invited to place a few of their own boxes in a storage space with ethylene. In this way, they can see for themselves how treatment compares with their own storage system. ‘Experience has shown that people will simply want to carry on’, says Jan Hartveld, technical specialist at Ten Brinke. The growers buy the complete Restrain system package. They rent the Restrain accumulator and pay a fixed amount for the entire storage season (see box). Ten Brinke installs the system and help the growers with climate settings such as temperature and maximum CO2 concentration. Treatment usually starts around the turn of the year. The exposure time is usually 90 days. First hour At the end of July, Ten Brinke organised a field day to set out the results and experiences to dates. Host Nico Gebbink from Espel has been a customer from the very beginning and he now treats almost all his own seed with ethylene. Gebbink mainly grows S material and has 300 tons of seed in ethylene during the winter. Spunta and Agatha are the only exceptions to the thirteen varieties he treats, because these are varieties that already produce many tubers anyway and don’t react too well to ethylene. In other varieties, treatment has led to a more uniform lot and he estimates his surplus yield at between 5 and 10 percent. In the past, Gebbink rotated his boxes for many years and varieties with low numbers were treated with Talent. ‘Talent is certainly good too, but I often had too many mutants. Even if I didn’t find any ‘BALANCE 800 EUROS HIGHER’ Ten Brinke has carried out many practical tests with ethylene in the past four years. Treatment was compared mainly with rotation, but also with planting straight from cool-storage and the use of Talent. This was always done with the same seed size, the same planting date and the same plot. For each trial, two metres were lifted three times, the yields of which were counted and weighed. The differences between varieties were substantial. Taking all trials and all varieties into account, Ten Brinke arrived at an average surplus yield between 800 and 900 euros per ha. That corresponds to 8 to 9 percent more tubers in the appropriate size. The cost of treatment was 32.50 euros per ton. For 6 tons of seed that means 195 euros per ha. mutants in my own plots, they were sometimes found later after having been sold. You can’t risk that with S material’, is Gebbink’s opinion. ‘Rotation also worked quite well. I’m not afreaid of puddling. It’s mainly so much more labour-intensive. Ethylene is simple and it gives you flexibility. If the weather changes suddenly during planting, you can move them back into the store without any problems. He takes most varieties out of storage about two to three days before planting. Sprouters that are not so fast, such as Agria and Rudolph, are taken out a few days earlier. He starts the temperature in the ethylene storage at 4 to 5 degrees Celsius, and gradually increases it to 6 to 7 degrees at the end. ‘The storage temperature always means compromise’, says Gebbink. ‘I’d prefer to keep varieties such as Spunta, Fontane, Agria and Rudolph at a somewhat higher temperature. But okay, with other storage methods, you also need to take the middle road. I’d prefer to have two compartPotato World 2014 • number 4 21 Pagina 20
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