The Flemish PCA has published the results of the first trial harvest of the early potato variety Amora. The late planting date is clearly reflected in what is now under the plants. There are also major differences between irrigated and non-irrigated plots.
The average planting date of the plots monitored by PCA is April 27. Only one plot could be planted quite early, namely on April 9. For comparison: the average planting date in the long-term average is April 2. In 2006, 2008 and 2018, the early varieties were only planted after mid-April.
The yield of the eight Amora plots is between 8 and 44 tons per hectare. The average therefore amounts to 26 tons per hectare. On the four plots that are irrigated, the average yield is 34 tons per hectare. Where there is no irrigation, the yield in the test harvest remains at half, namely 17 tons per hectare. Calculated according to the number of growing days (73), the average yield is slightly ahead of the ten-year average of 24,5 tons per hectare. However, growth is lagging behind significantly as of date. Around July 10 (date of sampling) the long-term average is 34 tons per hectare.
Potatoes are not yet fully ripened
The potatoes are still fine. The average yield in size 50 is 12 tons per hectare. On one plot there were no potatoes larger than 50 millimeters at all. There was a limited number of 70 on one plot. The irrigated plots have hardly matured yet. In the non-irrigated plots the degree of ripening varies between 15% and 65%. On average across all plots, the ripening rate is 18%, writes PCA. The underwater weight could not be determined on one of the plots because there were insufficient tubers. On the other plots the average underwater weight is 349 grams. A normal figure after 73 growing days, but in other years the underwater weight on July 10 was 380 grams.