Crop tour Seminar
What does the second edition of the Gewastour show?
The second edition of the Crop Tour of Boerenbusiness was concluded on Thursday 12 September with a seminar at the Aeres University of Applied Sciences in Dronten. During the seminar, among other things, the 2019 season was discussed, but the market expectations were also looked forward to.
Just like with the 'crop tours', the closing of the Boerenbusiness Crop tour a conclusion and the associated forecasts. During the concluding seminar, the partners and experts of DCA Groep discussed the various phases of the growing season, the trial harvesting and what those trial harvesting say about market expectations.
All partners who have been active in the field (Agrifirm, PlantCoaching, Hazera and Timac Agro) agree that the growing season started well. The soil structure of the potatoes was especially good. The emergence of the onions was also good. Although the drought quickly became an issue, last season's experiences ensured that growers were on top of it when it comes to irrigation. As a result, the amount in the potatoes was good.
Less thrips damage
The main difference with last year is that the heat and drought were present a little earlier in the year, so that the crops were still in a phase where they could have more. Jorik Dijksterhuis of Agrifirm therefore reports that thrips damage in onions is less in the 2019 season. "We are getting to know thrips better and better this year, and the growers were better able to deal with the heat, so that the pest developed less quickly."
The Innovator variety, which is the variety used in the Crop Tour, is generally doing well this season. "The fact that the Innovator still shows good regrowth has everything to do with a good start. If the variety does well in the beginning, it can take a lot. Planting earlier can also be wise," says Philip Kroes of PlantCoaching.
Better yields
from all trial harvesting van de Gewastour shows that the yields are better than in 2018. The partners who participated in the Gewastour agreed with this: "We did not have a great year with regard to onions, although it is clearly better than last year," says Menno van der Vlies of Hazera.
However, the question is why the trial harvestingand of the Crop Tour in general have often come out quite high. According to the advisers, this can be explained, among other things, by the fact that the growers who participate do their utmost with the cultivation. For example, the fields of the Gewastour were often irrigated.
From the last trial harvesting of the Boerenbusiness Crop Tour has shown that the average yield of the Innovators is 60,2 tons. That means there are still strong regrowth after the trial grubbing-up of week 31, when the average was 36,7 tons. With regard to the onions, the trial harvesting shows greater differences, but it will come average out at 55,9 tons per hectare. There are also plots where the crop still has a lot of growth potential.
Market expectations
During the seminar, the experts of DCA Group mainly focused on what the test harvests say about market expectations. Various cultivation themes were also discussed, all of which influence the yield of the crop. Another theme that was extensively discussed was irrigation. For example, should you or should you not irrigate at 40 degrees Celsius? "I think that the droplets on the leaf start to act as a magnifying glass in sunny weather, which only increases the effect of the heat and sun on the crop," says Kroes.
Finally, the storage of the product was also discussed. However, it is not yet clear to Engie Koudetechniek whether 2019 will be a better 'storage year' than last year. On the other hand, it is expected that the plants have had less stress.
Anne-Jan Doorn
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