Analysis Potatoes
First trial harvest figures: Irrigation makes the difference
Sufficient moisture in the second half of July and no extremely hot days. Real potato weather you would think. However, due to late planting and a dry period, the potatoes still have to catch up and that is reflected in the various trial harvests that were published this week. We can draw a conclusion: irrigating the early potatoes pays off this season.
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Choose the subscription that suits youThe Flemish Testing Center for Potato Cultivation (PCA) this week launched test harvests of the early Amora and Sinora varieties and the later Fontane variety. At first glance there is hardly any difference between what is under the plants in the last days of July. An exception are the Amora plots that are irrigated. The average yield of Sinora is 23 tons per hectare, Fontane 20,3 tons per hectare and non-irrigated Amora 20 tons per hectare.
Irrigation pays off
Five Amora plots were irrigated three or four times in the second half of June and the first half of July, with 20 to 30 mm each time. The average yield on those plots is 46 tons per hectare. The underwater weight for the Amora irrigated plots is 375 grams and for the non-irrigated plots it is 359 grams. There is also a big difference in ripening. The maturity of the irrigated plots is between 22% and 50%, while the non-storage plots are 60% to 90% mature.
The Sinora plots are still growing rapidly, reports PCA, with more than 1 tonne per hectare per day. This variety is also much greener with an average ripeness of 13%. Before the end of July, the average yield of this variety is 36 tons per hectare, well below the current 20 tons. PCA does note that we are missing more than a month of growth. This season we have an average of 72 growing days compared to 106 in the multi-year average.
Fontane well below average
The Fontane plots are also well below the multi-year average in terms of yield with 20,3 tons this season versus 33 tons in the multi-year average. Here too, the plots are lagging behind in growing days. Calculated for 75 growing days, the long-term average yield is also around 20 tons per hectare. The PCA notes that there is little difference between the earlier and later planted Fontane's this season, as well as the north-south or east-west location of the plots.
In addition to PCA, Aviko also presented the first test harvest figures. The average yield in week 30 is 18 tons per hectare in Aviko's figures. That is a historically low yield for this phase of the season. The proportion of potatoes 50 mm in size is just above 40%. A low yield and fairly large potatoes is in a sense confirmation that there is few in number is on the plants.