First seed potatoes are out of the ground

The difference in class reductions and rejections is not so much in the percentage. Up to and including week 30, 14,5% have been reduced in class, NAK publishes. That is 1,2 percentage points less than in the same period last year. The percentage of rejections is exactly the same as in 2,2 at 2018%. The foliage of approximately 8.000 hectares has been destroyed.

In the Northern sandy soils, at 22,7%, relatively more hectares are downgraded than last year's 15,8%. The percentage of rejected seed potatoes is also higher at 5,2% than in 2018 (2,2%). In the south the situation is the opposite, as there are fewer reductions (15,9%) and rejections (2,5%) than last year.

Illness picture
In the major cultivation areas, the Northern Clay and Central, the differences compared to last year are smaller with 13,4% reductions in Northern I and 13,5% in Central. The percentage of rejections in these areas does not differ significantly from last year.

What is striking is the reason for the reductions and rejections. In the last 2 years, this was largely due to bacterial illness (88 to 82%) and the mosaic virus (5% to 9%) or other causes played a modest role. This year it's different. Bacterial disease is now 52% the cause of reductions and rejections, but the mosaic virus is making strong progress this season (at 35%) as the cause of class reductions and rejections.

Sampling for follow-up testing will probably start in week 33, the NAK said. Until then, the trade in seed potatoes has virtually come to a standstill, DCA market experts say. There is fear of reductions in follow-up due to primary illness. The killing is now mainly done according to the size, with a normal number. Judging from the sounds from the sector, not a bad harvest is expected, but not a great one either.