News Potatoes
More seed potatoes reduced in class than in 2023
In the Netherlands, 3,4% of the seed potato area has been reduced in class so far. The NAK inspection service reports this on the basis of more than three-quarters of the plots that have been inspected for the first time. This percentage is slightly higher than last year, but a lot lower than in 2022. The main cause of the reductions is different from the 2023 harvest.
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Choose the subscription that suits youThe NAK has announced this. The percentage of the area that has been reduced in class is 1,1 percentage points higher than in 2023, when 2,5% had already been reduced. In 2022, however, this was already 27% in week 6. In almost all growing regions used by the NAK, the percentage of seed potatoes that have been reduced in class is around the national average of 3,4%. Only on the northern sandy soils, by far the smallest cultivation region with almost 2.000 hectares, the percentage is slightly higher at 5,6%. So far, almost 40 hectares (0,1%) of the seed potato area have already been definitively rejected. This is less than in the last two years.
The main source of the reductions is different from last year. While in 2023 a relatively large amount of seed potatoes (64%) were downgraded due to the mosaic virus, this year bacterial disease is the main cause with 78% of the area affected. The mosaic virus is now cited as the main reason for 'only' 13% of the area. This means that the proportions are more or less the same as in 2022.
