SIX MAIN POTATO VARIETIES AND THREE NEW VARIETIES TO BE HIGHLIGHTED AT OPEN DAY FOR BREEDERS, GROWERS, BUYERS AND PROCESSORS
THERE will be a chance to see some new potato varieties and hear about latest breeding results at Agrico’s Varieties and Seedlings who on Thursday (November 7th).
The event, which takes place at Agrico Research, Burchtweg 17 in Bant, the Netherlands, will be officially opened by Agrico’s General Director, Mark Zuidhof. Breeders, growers, buyers, processing companies and other interested parties from all over the world attend to explore the latest varieties and seedlings.
In cooperation with its affiliated growers, the breeding facility is dedicated to developing new potato varieties for all markets in which Agrico operates.
This year’s theme is ‘Next Generation’, referring to a selection of potato varieties with enhanced late blight resistance. The breeder says these varieties support sustainable potato cultivation by providing better protection against the potato disease, reducing reliance on plant protection products.
“The added value of these sustainable varieties continues to grow. Our Next Generation varieties pave the way for future generations in sustainable agriculture,” an Agrico press announcement stated.
The Agrico BioSelect and Semagri brands’ varieties will also be showcased at this year’s event. Semagri will participate for the first time as an Agrico brand, while BioSelect varieties have been featured in past shows.
Three new varieties have been added to the Dutch Variety List this year – Sidney, Leonore and Janick.
Sidney is a variety for high-quality fries production, with long, oval tubers, excellent dry matter content and high yield. Leonore is an early fries variety with a high yield early in the season. Its attractive skin also makes it suitable for the early ware market. Janick is a variety with a high yield and high dry matter content. Its improved late blight resistance makes it a compelling choice for both seed and starch potato growers. Janick is licensed for cultivation in Denmark and is part of Semagri’s portfolio.
The spotlight will be on six varieties during the Varieties and Seedlings Show, one from each market segment.
Jolene, the early maincrop ware variety for retail, stands out because of its skin, making it ideal as a washed and packaged potato, as well as for fries.
Paradiso, a traditional market variety, produces “exceptional” yields with high tuber numbers and “excels in consistency”. Because of its robust plant, it is a reliable choice in warmer regions.
Napoleon, a fries variety, offers excellent frying quality, even dry matter distribution and minimal sugar defects. Agrico says Napoleon consistently delivers an exceptional final product.
Another fries variety, Armedi, has “perfect” processing quality and produces tubers that are ideal for fries. The variety combines high yield, attractive oval-shaped tubers, excellent resistance to Pallida, long shelf life and outstanding processing quality throughout the season, Agrico states.
The early variety Twister (BioSelect) is perfect for organic cultivation and is one of Agrico’s Next Generation varieties. Twister not only offers natural late blight resistance, but also has a beautiful skin.
Saprodi (Semagri) is an early maincrop, high-yielding variety. Saprodi has strong resistance to potato cyst nematodes and wart disease, making it highly suitable for starch production as well as flake and granule cultivation.
