Good potato yield, lacks potential

In Wallonia the organizations have fiwap and Carah sampled six plots of Innovator at the beginning of August. The net yield in the size 35 millimeters upwards is 29,8 tons per hectare. One late-planted plot significantly reduces this average by 16,5 tons because it was only planted on May 11. On average, the planting date is April 24. Two plots achieve yields of 36 and 38 tons.

Foliage far dead
Characteristic of Innovator is that the crops wear out quickly and are already well into their decline. Fiwap reports that between 40% and 80% of the foliage has died. At 410 grams per five kilos, the underwater weight is high, as is characteristic of this season. It shows that the crops are already far in their development, causing growers to question the potential that the potatoes still have.

In previous years, trial harvesting only started in mid-August, so making a fair comparison is difficult. The figures fluctuate between 30 and 35 tons. The current yield is therefore not bad. The main question is how additional kilos can grow in this drought and heat.

Aviko Potato has new test harvest figures for week 31 published. These show a growth of about four tons per hectare compared to the previous sampling. Please note that this concerns gross kilos in the size 40 millimeters upwards. The yield continues to exceed that of the previous five years. Given the situation in the field, this raises questions.

Region is decisive
Aviko combines all varieties and regions and only publishes one figure. That may explain the relatively high tonnage. These are precisely two factors that are decisive this year. In the center and especially the north, crops are generally fresher than in the southwest and east, where drought has been acute for much longer. The temperatures are also lower, which also prevents wear and tear on the potato crops.

In week 31, all plots with Innovator chip potatoes that participate in the Boerenbusiness Crop tour sampled. This is the fifth time that nine plots have been monitored, which can result in a reliable average. The figures will be published this week. The yield is striking, with very large regional differences. The Innovators of the Crop Tour participants also show that the crop is well advanced (high owg) and the foliage is quite worn.

Weather changes, warmth returns
Now it's all about the growth weeks between August 10 and September 10. Meteorologists can say with increasing certainty that no precipitation is expected until August 15 and that temperatures will remain very high. Thirty degrees or more is no exception. This applies to the entire EU-4. After August 15, the weather maps now show a weather change, caused by a low-pressure area that is now forming. Because the sea water is relatively warm and the upper air is cold, a shower front can cause a lot of precipitation in the coastal regions.

These showers will probably be reserved for the coastal areas in the Netherlands, Belgium and France, a region where it is very dry. The inland areas are far from receiving sufficient rainfall, as is expected. After this shower front, another strong high-pressure area awaits that can raise the temperature again (20 to 25 degrees) and also bring drought again.

What growth can we expect?
If we translate this into the potential growth for potato crops, it remains doubtful whether sufficient additional kilos can be grown. The question is whether the crops are still green enough in the second half of August to benefit from precipitation. With the yield, quality and weather figures in mind, we can conclude that the next three weeks can make or break the 2022 potato harvest. Does the yield graph follow the 2017 or 2018 line?