TRADE AND MARKET I NG Italy: ideal testing ground for Dutch potato breeding and onions. From 1978 onwards Antonio and his brothers Dominico and Vincenco have been in charge here. Covone explained that the company has been trading with Dutch seed potato companies since the 1960s. He is pleased with the recent renewal of the varieties for regional cultivation, but it’s not really fast enough for him, he tells the breeders. ‘We need varieties that are better able to cope with the cold at the beginning of the growing season.’ In addition, he believes that improvements are needed with regard to brown discolouration. ‘Moulting of the tubers isn’t the worst thing, consumers actually like to see this, especially in first-early potatoes. What consumers don’t like, and neither do we, is the brown discolouration that develops after a while. There is room for improvement, we know that. It’s now a question of getting high-yielding varieties, like the Colomba, but then without brown discolouration.’ He would also welcome a few more tubers per plant. The message to the breeders is clear and, they can start working on that at home in Holland. At the time of the visit, it was clear that there had been very little local harvest as yet from the nearby area. It’s mainly imports from other regions that the growers see in the packaging. Jelly from Egypt, Bellini from Sicily, Franceline from France. The import prices of these varieties are around 20 euros per 100 kilograms. Unfortunately, this isn’t a great financial prospect for the potato growers in the Naples region. there was interest and a need for marketing and importing seed potatoes. Contacts with the Netherlands have existed for many decades, from the time that ZPC and Hettema still operated separately and Agrico didn’t yet exist. By now, 80 percent of the seed potatoes ‘We no longer want water balls, but potatoes that are equal to or better than Agata.’ Smallholder farms A day later, the sun shines again over the Italian potato fields and the breeders are finally allowed to focus on the potatoes under a clear blue sky and at an outside temperature of over 30 degrees, this time on an Agrico trial field. The Dutch cooperative works here in the Naples region with the Provvisiero family business, which is located in the town of Nola. Here, co-owner and sales manager Francesco Provvisiero describes the current position of the company and Agrico as a partner. The family business was founded in 1940. During the war, it started to trade in table potatoes and it was only after the Second World War that marketed by Provvisiero come from the Dutch cooperative from Emmeloord. In 1980, the Campania region to which Naples belongs had an annual potato production of 500,000 tons. This has now dropped to 350,000 tons. In order to keep enough potato turnover within the company, it has sought expansion in the northern region of Abruzzen on the east coast, near the Italian capital of Rome, which lies in the western region of Lazio. Provvisiero is mainly active in Il Fucino, a flat polder near the town of Avezzano. After many earlier attempts, Lake Il Fuzino was permanently drained in 1920 and produced fertile soil at 650 metres above sea level and a surface area of 59 square kilometres. They grow potatoes for a range of markets. Eighty percent of table potatoes are sold to domestic supermarkets such as Auchan. The remaining twenty percent are sold to vegetable outlets and the hotel and catering industry in the country. It is the reverse situation of 20 years ago, Francesco Provvisiero adds. Furthermore, they deal in seed potatoes, Frenchfry potatoes and have an import and export division. What goes into the packaging bag and enters in big bags is what the breeders have just been able to see in the company’s modern packaging station. The Dutch cooperative Agrico works here in the Naples region with the Provvisiero family business, which markets and packages potatoes and seed potatoes. We don’t want water balls anymore After the business has been explained, Jeffrey Dijk, Agrico’s export manager, takes over the baton for an explanation of the varieties on one of the nearby trial fields. The breeders follow him closely, some still with their umbrellas, Potato World 2018 • number 3 31 Pagina 34

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