Dutch Crop tour potato - week 37
Regrowth is disappointing, first potato plots ready
The potato crop has deteriorated tremendously in the past week. Hardly any green can be seen on the plots and the re-growth is therefore quite disappointing this season. Spraying the first potato plots to death is earlier than expected.
Given the circumstances, potato growers had expected the potato crop to last longer. Nothing seems less true, given the speed with which the crop disappeared. Since last week, 4 potato growers from De Gewastour have therefore already treated their plots with deciduous agents.
Lean regrowth
We may be mid-September, but it is remarkable that the crop is dying off at such a rapid pace. Kees Vrolijk, potato grower from Fijnaart (North Brabant): "You can't talk about the date, but how quickly the crop deteriorates is bizarre. In a week it goes from a healthy, producing crop where kilos can grow. , to a gloomy crop whose regrowth will be very disappointing." As a result, the growing season seems to be coming to an end earlier than expected and that will cost kilos. Merry confirms this: "Due to the meager regrowth, Innovator will certainly miss yields. My other varieties are also declining rapidly.
There is no clear explanation for the rapid death of the potato crop. But it is clear that the harvesting of the chips potatoes can start earlier than expected, according to Sander Uland of Bayer Cropscience. "It is difficult to say and not to explain exactly what it is, but a connection of several factors. Early in the season the crop had a hard time with the temperature. The crop had started to wear out, but last week we have some heat and the crops were absolutely not used to that this year. That may have been the last push."
"The foliage has developed well during the season, but at a certain point it stops. In the end it is mid-September and the crop has suffered enough this season," says Uland. In particular, the plots on the heavier soils fail sooner than the plots on lighter soils. Below is an image that shows how quickly the crop wears out (difference of 8 days) on the plot in Dronten (clay soil).
Haulm killing
The time for haulm killing has now arrived on 4 plots of the Crop Tour. Last week the spraying moment for haulm killing was in Scharendijke (Zeeland) and Someren (North Brabant). In Scharendijke there was hardly any green to be seen and in Someren the potato grower opted for haulm killing because of the tight schedule: "We had to spray the crop to death, otherwise we wouldn't finish the harvest on time."
The first plot in Dronten was also sprayed with Quickdown. After the crop deteriorated rapidly, spraying was done last Monday (September 13). Also in Hellevoetsluis (South Holland) the growing season for the crop tour plot has come to an end since last Monday. In other plots, haulm killing is not yet an issue.
Jesse Torringa
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