Many trading houses organize their relationship days, and in addition to presenting new varieties and maintaining the network, there is also time to take a look at the future. What trends do the companies identify and what do they do with them?
Making cultivation more sustainable, making the potato plant more resistant to diseases, pests and weather extremes while at the same time keeping yield and quality at least the same and preferably improving. It demands quite a bit from the entire potato chain and from distribution and seed potato cultivation in particular.
Different visions
Two important players on the Dutch market, Agrico and HZPC, each have their own vision of the direction the seed potato chain is heading, as became clear during the presentations that both held this week. Some see great potential in data and expect traditional breeding to remain dominant. The other wants tapping into new markets in new regions and focuses on the development of hybrid potatoes and true potato seed (TPS) potato seed.
Agrico sees a lot in better analyzing and using (market) data. "A variety like Fontane has exceeded our expectations," says Jan van Hoogen, director of Agrico. "The variety did well in our test fields, but we did not see the success we are now having with the variety coming. Why are some varieties that you would not immediately expect so well accepted by growers, trade and industry, and why are other varieties successful? from which you expect a lot less? The data is there, but we have to filter out the factors that determine success. That is one of the major challenges we face."
In the field of breeding, Agrico expects traditional breeding to remain dominant. The company is working hard on robust varieties with one or more phytophthora resistant genes. Essential for organic cultivation and an important step for conventional cultivation to reduce resource use. Agrico proudly reports that one or more robust varieties are available in all segments (french fries, table, chips).
Hype
Potato distribution is a long-term process and accelerating it is not easy in practice, according to Van Hoogen. Van Hoogen is critical of new breeding techniques such as CRISPR-cas. "A bit of a hype is being created around CRISPR-cas. It certainly offers opportunities, but whether it is the egg of Columbus for potato breeding, as it is now presented by some, remains to be seen." He also indicates that the technology is not permitted in the EU and therefore investing in it is risky. Van Hoogen is not afraid of missing out if permission is granted in the future. "That specific knowledge can still be purchased later."
Demand for food is growing
During its Potato Days, HZPC paid a lot of attention to developing new markets. The world population is growing. The earth is not getting any bigger, so smart solutions are needed to feed those extra mouths with affordable and healthy food. The potato is an established value in many regions, but according to the company there is still a lot of potential for the crop in Sub-Saharan Africa and India.
Exporting (Dutch) seed potatoes to those regions is difficult. To get the seed potatoes there, large distances have to be bridged over land. This is not only expensive, but the quality also deteriorates rapidly if it is in transit for days or even weeks under poor conditions. Exporting a small volume of seed instead of a large volume of seed potatoes could be a solution to this, according to Gerard Backx, director of HZPC.
Hybrid varieties
TPS and hybrid potatoes require diploid varieties instead of the currently common tetraploid varieties. However, the current diploid varieties lag behind the current varieties by tens of percent in terms of yield. "We are working hard to improve yields, but that takes time," according to Backx. However, for some regions, such as the Sub-Sahara, the company expects to be able to introduce varieties within a few years. The yields there are relatively low, partly because they do not have good starting material. Big steps can quickly be taken in this regard with hybrid potatoes.
According to Backx, hybrid potatoes will mainly complement seed potato cultivation as it is now. Growing a potato from a seed takes much longer and is more difficult than growing a potato from a pot. Opportunities lie mainly in the local cultivation of healthy seed potatoes by specialized growers in regions where good seed potatoes are currently difficult to obtain. In the long term, the hybrid varieties can also provide benefits for the more developed markets, for example because new crosses can be made more quickly or because the starting material is 100% virus-free.