The acreage of seed potatoes of the Bintje and Spunta varieties is falling sharply in Belgium. This is because more hectares of starting material for the French fries varieties are being grown. This is the same situation as in the Netherlands, where high-yielding chips varieties are also preferred.
Recent figures from PCA (about the seed potato area in Belgium) it appears once again that there is an increasingly large area of chip varieties. The acreage of the Agria and Fontane varieties has increased by 13% and 16% respectively. These varieties are grown on more than 260 hectares. The Challenger and Innovator varieties are also gaining popularity in Belgium.
Bintje loses
The big loser is Bintje; the area of this variety decreased by 32% to 360 hectares. However, this still makes it the largest breed. The decline in the Bintje area has been going on for a long time. It means that there is more contract cultivation and less free potato cultivation.
The market for Bintje was also not positive last season. "The problems lay with Bintje; processors turned their noses up at this variety last season," says Jan de Lange, board member of the NEPG and VTA. The area of the export variety Spunta also decreased by 14%, to an area of 166 hectares.
Situation in the Netherlands
The situation in seed potato cultivation is virtually the same in the Netherlands and Belgium. From figures from the NAK (from beginning of June) shows that for the first time the area of chip varieties is larger than the area of the export variety Spunta. The high-yielding chip varieties are therefore preferred over the Spuntas and Bintjes.
The Belgian seed potato area remains stable at 2.378 hectares. In the Netherlands, the area increased by 620 hectares to 41.740 hectares. In France, the area of certified seed potatoes is expanding; about 6% more seed potatoes are grown.