News potatoes
Field inspection NAK: more reduction due to bacterial disease
The first field inspection for seed potatoes is almost over and the second field inspection is also well underway. This is reported by the NAK inspection service. The reduction percentage is already increasing considerably, with bacterial illness as the main cause. The vector pressure remains somewhat lower compared to the past two years.
Up to and including week 28, 5,9% of the seed potato area has been reduced in class according to the Dutch General Inspection Service (NAK). That is a lot more than last week, when the reduction percentage was still 3,4%. Compared to last year, slightly more reductions were made in week 28. However, this growing season is in line with that of 2022, when there was a 6% reduction in the same week. In the Central and Northern sandy soil regions (both 6,2%) the class has been reduced slightly more than in the Northern clay (5,8%) and Southern (5,5%) regions.
In terms of reduction percentage and cause, this growing season is somewhat similar to 2022. In addition to the reduction percentage, bacterial disease is also the largest cause of the class reduction this growing season with 77%. This is followed by mosaic virus at 15% and 'other' at 8%. This is no surprise after the wet conditions of this spring and the poorer average structure of the soils. In 2022, bacterial illness was also the main cause of the reduction at 72%. In 2023, it was the mosaic virus with 64%.
0,5% of the area has also been rejected, which amounts to 193 hectares according to NAK figures. Meanwhile, 534 plots already have permission for foliage destruction.
Aphid monitoring
The vector pressure in seed potatoes is much lower in most regions compared to recent years, especially if you look at 2023 and 2022. However, this does not entirely apply to every region. Earlier in the season, around week 18 (the first week of May), vector pressure increased rapidly in many regions. In recent weeks, pressure has increased only slightly in many regions.
Jesse Torringa
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