Potatoes make kilos, sorting could be coarser

The average yield of both varieties was 38 tons per hectare. At Fontane the gross yield was between 21 and 55 tons per hectare. The yield on a third of the plots in Flanders is now above 45 tons per hectare.

The average yield of Fontane on the Flemish plots is 41 tons per hectare. In Wallonia this is 33 tons per hectare, only 2 plots there have a yield of more than 40 tons. On the Challenger plots the spread is significantly smaller with yields between 30 and 50 tons per hectare. There are also hardly any differences between Wallonia and Flanders.

Growing weather
In the 14 days between the first and second trial harvesting, Fontane grew an average of 800 kilos per hectare per day (700 in Wallonia and 900 in Flanders). The Challenger grew 700 kilos per day per hectare in the same period. Both varieties still show few signs of maturity. The varieties also perform above the multi-year average in terms of yield based on the number of growing days. The coarseness remains (slightly) behind the multi-year average.

The underwater weight has increased considerably, but remains stuck at 341 grams for Challenger and 346 grams for Fontane. Little or no wastage has been found, but there is some waste at Fontane. Usually growth cracks, but occasionally also a deformed tuber. Rotten tubers due to bacterial rot have been observed on some plots.

No major differences
In the Netherlands the situation seems fairly comparable to that in Belgium. From the trial harvesting from Aviko it appears that the total yield is around the long-term average, but that the sorting here is somewhat coarser. In the Netherlands too, the average OWG remains below the industry standard of 360 grams.