Aardappelteelt uit Japan

Calbee Potato expects Hokkaido’s 2026 processing potato crop to reach 240,000–250,000 tons, with better quality and yields than 2025. Favorable temperatures and rainfall have boosted growth, although heavy rain remains a major harvest risk now.

Researchers from the University of Tokyo and Kubota developed a drone- and AI-based system to predict potato yields before harvest. Using drone imagery, machine learning, and growth modeling, it enables accurate, non-destructive yield forecasting.

Kobe University found that potatoes secrete a molecule (SEC) that microbes convert into compounds triggering potato parasite hatching. This three-way interaction could help develop 'suicide hatching' methods to control crop-damaging nematodes.