Last winter, the seed potato business only dealt with 2 issues: scarcity and growth cracks. After much discussion, concerns about the seed potato supply led to the relaxation of the growth crack standard in mid-November. Was it worth all the commotion?
"First and foremost, I am still happy that we did it," said chairman Tom van der Meer of the Vavi raw materials committee. 'It was the first time that we as buyers requested such a proposal, but it is of great importance for the seed potato supply for consumer growers and for the chip industry.' However, Van der Meer would tackle some things differently in the future.
Communication must be improved. 'Explain to more parties in advance why the adjustment is necessary, so that it is more widely supported and no strange discussions arise. Some people confused a defect with seed potatoes not sprouting, but growth cracks do not affect the internal quality of seedlings. This created an unfair separation between seed potato and consumer growers.'
Next time even more spacious
It was also not convenient that the proposal, which the Vavi submitted together with Agrico, was submitted on Agrico letterhead. 'It looks like an Agrico request. As if they sought support from the Vavi, while it was the other way around. The Vavi was the first to be concerned about the total amount of available seed potatoes. We should have been leading, we should have informed seed potato parties ourselves.'
In retrospect, Van der Meer says that if he had had to submit a proposal for expansion again, he would have done so even more broadly. 'Now the adjustment only applied to cracks that ran along the side. This is very difficult for seed potato farmers to sort out, because most of the cracks were over the top. Sorting A and B-worthy was really an art.'
Receiving party understanding
The Vavi raw materials chairman cannot indicate how many tonnes the standard adjustment ultimately yielded. 'There has been so much talk about growth cracks, which is why few or no problems emerged. The receiving party already knew that there could be growth cracks and was therefore understanding. There was no discussion about B or A class.'
He also thinks it is a positive side effect that a discussion has been started within the NAK to approach such matters differently from now on. He has compliments for the neutral attitude of the body. 'Where others became emotional, the NAK remained businesslike.'
No more pot available
There is no more pot available at the moment. 'Suppose there is a complaint somewhere and a transplant is needed, then there is simply nothing decent to be had anywhere. The last supporters had to come from France, England and Scotland, because there was no longer a single party in the Netherlands.'
Still, he is convinced that the change has helped. 'As a result, there are more potters with a NAK label and less people have entered the illegal circuit. As a chain you want things to be professional and not secretive. I'm sure there are fewer illegal potters in the ground now. The total quantity of seed potatoes has been increased and this has been done according to the rules.'