PW-ACTUA Figures determine the choice of starch varieties At the end of June, Royal ZAP/Semagri organised two open practical days for the sixth time to inform starch growers about the possibilities of new varieties. ‘Growers of starch potatoes are looking for varieties with the right resistances and high-starch yield that are best for their own farms. Figures determine the choice’, explains specialist Jarke Kruize of the seedpotato trade company on the trial field in Westerbork. Like on the trial field in the province of Drenthe, the sun has broken through for many starch growers in recent years. Since the European subsidies for the crop were abolished, the market for potato starch has improved considerably. Companies such as Royal ZAP/Semagri, which made the strategic choice a few years ago to represent new varieties of starch, are now reaping the benefits. In contrast to the French-fry potato market, growers in the starch potato areas can choose varieties that suit their land and solve the problems they’re experiencing with potato cyst nematode and wart disease. One of the two hundred or so growers who visited the open day was Jan Tubben from BargerCompascuum. ‘In starch potato cultivation, you go for the end result. This means harvesting as many tons as possible with as many starch potatoes per hectare as possible. You also need this in order to be able to realise a reasonable income’, explains Tubben. In addition to his own crop with a variety trial field in the Netherlands, he supervises two large starch potato growers in Germany. ‘In the new varieties, the yield and resistance to wart disease and potato cyst nematode are very important. The Globodera Pallida nematode is now increasing here and to combat this we need highly-resistant varieties. I think that growing varieties without resistance in our area is very dangerous, because you can ruin it for everyone. As a grower, you have to think 40 years ahead and keep your soil in good condition. It is difficult to clean up once the soil has become contaminated’, says Tubben frankly. ‘In order to achieve a good balance, a variety must produce more than 10 tons of starch potatoes per hectare. That provides an income flow of around 4,000 euros per hectare’, he calculates. Trial field on sand In Westerbork, Jarke Kruize In Westerbork, Jarke Kruize (right) takes growers to the trial field with new and existing varieties that grow on sandy soil. 10 Potato World 2018 • number 3 Pagina 9

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