CULTIVATION AND TECHNOLOGY Crisis or not, without breeding there are no solutions Jan Willem Sepers, Agroplant: ‘Always reliable yields with Actrice, Dido and Picobello’ According to Jan Willem Sepers of Agroplant in Medemblik, the current price crisis is simply the result of overproduction. ‘It’s a mistake to think that varieties are going to solve the crisis. The consumption market is negative and that may just influence the seed potato market. Stability in cultivation is important when facing a crisis. As a sector, you only want varieties that produce reliable yields. Our Actrice, Dido and Picobello are examples of such varieties. They’re toppers in the table potato segment. Varieties that can easily be cleaned and stay fresh on the shelves. That’s what supermarkets really like. And consumers as well, because they primarily buy with their eyes.’ Taste, according to Sepers, is also an important factor when facing a crisis. ‘Our varieties really taste of potatoes. To resolve the crisis, a variety should in any event have both growth reliability and added-value.’ Anyway, Sepers is definitely optimistic about the future. ‘Central Europe, Poland and the Czech Republic are going to be very important for us in the coming years. The wholesale trade in those countries is Jeroen van Soesbergen, Plantera: ‘Vitabella and Inova have added value’ Jeroen van Soesbergen first looks around for a quiet spot before he can give an answer. At the very-first Plantera variety’s presentation in Marknesse, the visitors keep coming in the whole day. No lack of interest here. Van Soesbergen runs the new company together with Gerard Bovée. They first worked for KWS Potato, which they left in the spring of last year, together with a range of table potato varieties. ‘With this package, we’re serving a very small market. It’s possible, but it’s a very bad market right now. The prices of the bigger varieties, the Nicola, for example, are dramatic. Especially for a starting business like ours, that’s a bit difficult. Fortunately, we’ve got varieties here that have a considerable added value such as the Vitabella and the Inova. With these two in particular, we can currently make a difference in the market. These are table potatoes with taste and contents. We mainly present them in the healthy vegetable segment. And that applies to a developing fast and everything seems to be moving rapidly. These upcoming economies are bursting at the seams. Some years ago, Polish quality was still viewed as the lowest of Northern Europe. In the mean time, their quality requirements for potatoes are higher than in the Netherlands.’ Erik Appeldoorn, IPM Potato Group: ‘Elektra most suitable for Iraq and Syria’ few other varieties we’ve got here. Every single one of them has more added value than the big bulk varieties, for example. With the newer varieties, we also want to try and recover ground from the pasta and rice dishes. Fortunately, we’ve got enough contacts from our earlier field of activity to make a good start. They know our business philosophy and are prepared to introduce varieties such as Vitabella and Inova to the consumers. This will definitely steer us through the crisis.’ ‘Crisis, is there a crisis?‘ is the counterquestion of Erik Appeldoorn of IPM Potato Group from Deinum. ‘Not here by any means. We focus on innovation. This has been translated into a recently adapted company name and, again, with new varieties.’ Appeldoorn points to the trays with a series of led lamps above them, containing potatoes of the new Elektra variety. Led lamps are the new standard lighting and Elektra the new standard among export varieties, that’s the message. ‘The Elektra is suitable for cultivation in countries such as Iraq and Syria. It develops well under extremely hot conditions. It also has high yields and a wonderful taste’, Appeldoorn explains. ● Jaap Delleman and Leo Hanse Potato World 2015 • number 2 29 Pagina 28
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