CULTIVATION AND TECHNOLOGY Crisis or not, without breeding there are no solutions Francis Binst, BBS: ‘Agila and Alegria available at the right moment throughout the year’ ‘It’s a blessing that we’ve got the right protected varieties in the packaged table potatoes and home-made chips segments right now’, Francis Binst, Managing Director of Binst Breeding and Selection (BBS) from the village of Grimbergen (B) states, relieved. ‘In the past four years, we’ve successfully been able to convince farmers, packagers, distributors and consumers of the quality of our current productive varieties Agila and Alegra. Alegria lives up to its name, because it means Joy. That joy is reflected in the sales results in Belgium. Fortunately, we’ve found that, even with today’s abundant supply of the Agila and Alegria, our buyers still want to stay with us. And we see that it’s also extremely difficult to push new varieties onto the market now.’ Binst tells us that they’ve also been successful in having sufficient Agila and Alegria varieties available for the supermarkets all year round. In order to achieve this, crops were grown in Belgium, Spain, Cyprus and Israel. Additionally, the trading company concentrates on established values such as Charlotte and Nicola, for which it has permanent contacts with buyers in forty countries. ‘It’s not all sorrow and misery in the potato trade. The trade to countries such as Bangladesh, Egypt and Lebanon is doing very well at the moment. Iraq is also very interested in our potatoes, especially the Dragon variety. In short, we’re doing fairly well, but are really happy that we’ve been able to get our own varieties a good name with our buyers exactly on time. Jos Bus, TPC: ‘With Toronto and Monte Carlo, we’ve got the solution for potato cyst nematode’ Jos Bus of The Potato Company in Emmeloord views the question from another direction, that of a longer existing issue in the sector. ‘At the moment, it’s the price that’s causing the crisis. We haven’t got a variety that can solve this market problem. A problem that we regard as a real crisis, though, and one for which we’ve got solutions is potato cyst nematode’, says Bus. In his opinion, the heart of the potato cyst nematode crisis in the Netherlands lies in Eastern and Southern Flevoland. ‘There are plots there that, because of current potato cyst nematode laws and regulations are only allowed to grow resistant varieties. As a trading company, we’re in the happy position that we can deliver on that basis. We now have two strong varieties in our range: the Monte Carlo and the Toronto. Because of their broad resistance these are attractive varieties for seed potato growers. Monte Carlo has ABCDEF behind its name, whereby BC and F apply to resistance against Globodera Rostochiensis and D and E against Globodera Pallida. The Toronto also has G, which applies to an extra resistance against Rostochiensis.’ Herman Verveld, HZPC: Herman Verveld of HZPC in Joure doesn’t have to think long about the crisis question. In rapid tempo, he explains what the current problems are in the potato market. ‘It’s about consistency. Look at the situation two years ago. Prices were high, but at the same time we offered the consumer potatoes with the focus on sales and not on quality. With that you can expect problems. In my opinion, the sector is still too much focused on trade. We have to change tack by collaborating more. However, that requires more openness. We have to inform each other. What exactly is the end product we want to offer the consumer? It’s not about high yields but the highest marketable yield. That’s how the consumer gets what he expects. We’re currently too much focused on the shortterm trade and forget about the end user. That’s exactly what we’re trying to do at HZPC, and we’re using modern technology to do it. For example, in our laboratory we have an apparatus that exactly measures the division of dry matter inside the tuber. That information is crucial for the processing industry, as you can only take a good decision about 26 Potato World 2015 • number 2 Pagina 25
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