Growing potatoes in the desert

Potato cultivation is a growing crop in the Middle East. The crop yields the highest nutritional value per liter of sparing water. The desert in Saudi Arabia is cultivated for potato cultivation on a 35.000 hectare arable farm. Everything is impressive about this way of pioneering.

Brothers Piet and Wilko Regnerus, of Regnerus Machines (Rema) from Ferwert in Friesland, have just returned from the desert of Saudi Arabia. Just in time, because in June the temperature rises to 50 degrees. Yet potatoes are also grown here, even to an increasing extent. The Saudi government has set its sights on the crop. Water consumption is considerably lower compared to grain, while the nutritional value is higher.

Mechanical haulm killing
The Regnerus brothers try to revive the haulm puller for mechanical haulm killing in potatoes. For example, they want to be independent of chemical haulm killing; There is a lot of interest in the machine, which combines haulm pulling with root cutting, both in the organic and conventional international potato sector. Old IMAG studies were retrieved and combined with technology from the twenty-first century. In the Netherlands, 3 of their EnvimaxX machines will be running this year. The first for this season, a model with 6 rows by 90 centimeters, is running in Saudi Arabia.

"Our customer has a company of 35.000 hectares in the north of the country, of which 10.000 hectares is arable," explains Piet Regnerus. "They grow alfalfa, onions, wheat, barley and potatoes for which more than 200 pivots have been installed. 170 of these are active, because not all the water is suitable for irrigating. The rest of the company consists of orchards with dates, olives and peaches. The potato area covers 1.000 hectares and the ambition is to grow to 2.000 hectares. Marquis is the main variety, most of which is processed into chips. The rest is sold as table potatoes. Depending on the season, 1.000 to 1.5000 employees are employed. "

Water
"The hectare yields are on average 30 to 40 tons per hectare. This could be higher, but harvesting is done when the market demands it. The onions are allowed to fully grow and the yields are 70 to 80 tons per hectare. millimeters of precipitation, so that everything is irrigated, partly to cool the crop. The pivots measure about 10 meters in length and work 800 hours a day. The company then runs through 24 liters of diesel, at €168.000 per liter "The water is pumped up to 0,10 meters deep and is 250 degrees. There is a continuous search for more water. The deeper you pump it, the higher the salinity. Drip irrigation is increasingly being used to save water."

rhizoctonia
In addition to sandstorms, rhizoctonia is a major problem. The dropout rate is between 7% and 64%; with an average of 35%, the losses are extremely high. To counter this, the company is now experimenting with haulm pulling and root cutting. The tubers then harden faster, after which harvesting is done with less damage. In addition, the green foliage remains on top of the ridges, so that the soil dries out less quickly. The cutting gives the back a loose structure and allows oxygen to reach the tubers. Haulm killing in the difficult variety Markies was previously done with 5 liters of Reglone (diquat) per hectare. These costs are now saved. Harvesting goes with large machines from the American Spudnik in 2 phase, to achieve capacity, with 10 rows at a time.

"The desert does not consist of 1 type of soil", Regnerus knows. "The place where we were working consisted of clay and sand. You must not forget that this was once the bottom of the ocean. Not every soil is suitable for growing potatoes. Real desert soil consists of small stones. You can't grow anything at all. The organic matter content is 0. All fertilizers are mixed with the water. Due to the liquid fertilizers, a pivot has already been written off in 10 years. With only watering, it can last at least twice as long. The construction plan consists of grain and alfalfa followed by wheat in a 1 in 3 rotation. If this cannot be grown, it will remain fallow."

Cultivation Expansion
Expanding is simple. With large bulldozers, the desert soil is flattened and drilled into water. Due to the low oil price, asphalt is also dirt cheap. All roads are built in-house. The government forbids the export of potatoes, because a potato consists of 80% 'virtual' water. The domestic market is large. The rural area comprises 16.000 hectares. In 2015, the country imported €68 million worth of chips from the Netherlands. This makes it the fourth customer, after the United Kingdom, Germany and France. The alfalfa is sold to dairy farms in the region.

In the mid-seventies, potato cultivation was introduction in Saudi Arabia. The Netherlands has been closely involved in crop development from the start. Annual production is currently half a million tons. Mainly because the hectare yields have increased by 33%. Seed potatoes are grown locally and a lot are imported from our country. In peak year 2016, more than 27.000 tons.

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