The percentage reduction in post-control is extremely high. This means that many seed potatoes have been reduced in class. Will this endanger the acreage for 2020 and will it affect exports? Boerenbusiness it asked 4 trading houses.
That question laid Boerenbusiness for 4 trading houses. According to Gerard Backx, director of HZPC, it leads high reduction rate does not lead to a reduction in the total area of seed potatoes. For some varieties - and especially the new varieties - it does create a tighter position for HZPC. Sales of chip varieties are continuing well according to Backx. He does notice that the chip industry is a little later in contracting compared to other years. Whether much more will be added remains to be seen.
Race change by CIPC
At Agrico there is more demand for chip varieties. The Premiere, Fontane and Markies varieties are in particular demand. The demand for varieties with a good dormancy, such as Markies, is also increasing. This is due to the current CIPC discussion.
Agrico also expects no decrease in the total seed potato area of its members in 2020. The cooperative even expects further area growth among its members. Agrico says it also has sufficient seed potatoes available for the high classes to deliver for the 2020 harvest. The reduction percentage is highly dependent on the breed and area. Compared to national figures, Agrico has a lower reduction percentage, it said. The company attributes this to the geographical distribution of its growers and the range of varieties. Growers who have received disappointing results in the follow-up inspection decide to purchase more seed potatoes than in other years.
Problem with class E
However, Agrico has had a shortage of class E potatoes for some destinations. This problem became even worse in combination with the scabies. There has been a huge shortage of class E in scabies scale 1 in the past year. There are a small number of varieties that will not be completely sold out. The chip varieties at Agrico are completely sold out.
More chip varieties, fewer exports
Potato trading house Q-potato also notices that compared to other years, the chip factories started contracting a little later, says co-owner Wouter Mutsaers. According to him, sales are going well at the moment. Q-potato is currently busy introducing the chip potato varieties. He also expects the total area for 2020 to remain stable and perhaps even increase slightly. He does see a shift in the area of export varieties towards the French fry varieties. This is due to problems with viruses and scabies. The industrial varieties are slightly more tolerant than the export varieties. This will result in more industrial varieties being grown. Varieties such as Desiree and Spunta in particular are expected to decrease in area
According to Mutsaers, there is no shortage of class E potatoes at Q-potato. From the start of the sales season until the end of December, it was stated that there would be a shortage of class E. According to Mutsaers, there is currently still enough stock of class E's.
Sales of the chip varieties are also going well at Interseed. The sales planning for Interseed's largest variety, Zorba, is almost complete. The same applies to the Austin chip variety. Interseed wants to expand in both varieties in the coming years. There is still plenty of seed left from Miss Malina. The growth of this breed is not as great as expected. The largest Zorba variety is not very susceptible to viruses and is therefore popular for next year, Henk Feddes says. It is also an early variety, which helps to prevent any problems with CIPC.
High freezing pressure
The trading houses all agree on one thing. It is expected that the virus pressure for next year will be high from the start of the season. This has everything to do with the fact that there has not been a severe winter period so far. Especially given the limited resource package, virus pressure is a concern for the sector.