News on The Potato Supply Chain from Belgium

Stories about large losses in harvest in the Belgian sector due to the heavy rainfall are circulating in various media. But Romain Cools of Belgapom says it is too early to come up with a percentage.

In early June, AVR bvba - manufacturer of agricultural machinery for a.o. the potato sector - officially opened its new production facility in the presence of Governor Carl Decaluwé, Mayor Kris Declercq and Roeselare Aldermen Marc Van Walleghem, Nathalie Muylle and Griet Coppé.

The first common event of Freshfel Europe & Europatat took place this week: “Doing something good to yourself and to others will be the driver for the purchasing decision of fresh-produce customers”, concluded the associations.

Europatat appoints a new board, including Jos Muyshondt as President, Domenico Citterio as vice-president and Gilles Fontaine as treasurer.

Europatat and Freshfel Europe will jointly celebrate their first common annual meeting on 2 June 2016 in Brussels.

The remarkable growth of the Belgian potato-processing sector in the past few decades has continued in 2015.

The Europatat Congress 2016 will take place in Brussels (Belgium) on 1 & 2 June 2016, under the slogan “Not business as usual!”

Celcaa, FoodDrinkEurope, SACAR and Copa and Cogeca held a high-level Seminar in Brussels today to
discuss the new EU promotion policy for agri-food products which is entering into force on 1 December

Dewulf, specialist in harvesting technology for potatoes and carrots, has implemented extensive updates for 2016 on the current Kwatro self-propelled 4-row sieving harvester.

The North-western European Potato Growers (NEPG) expect the total potato production (excluding seed and starch potatoes) of this year' s harvest to amount to 24.5 million tonnes. This is 14.1 percent below the potato production last year and 2.9 percent below the 5-year average.

Boeren, telers en producenten die hun sorteerproces wensen te optimaliseren, moeten zeker en vast een bezoekje brengen aan PotatoEurope, waar TOMRA Sorting Food de Field Potato Sorter zal demonstreren.

During Potato Europe, AVR will present its latest potato harvesters, the Puma 3 and the Spirit 9200 Varioweb, for the first time during live harvesting demonstrations to the general public.

Europlant vuelve a presentarse en PotatoEurope, la principal feria comercial para la producción de papa (o patata). En esta ocasión expondrá numerosas variedades de propagación ecológica, como Allians, Jelly, Regina y Venezia.

EUROPLANT Pflanzenzucht GmbH is represented this year at PotatoEuropeto and will show their extensive range of table potatoes, including several varieties suitable for organic cultivation.

Farmers, growers and producers looking to enhance their sorting process efficiency should head to PotatoEurope next month, where TOMRA Sorting Food will be demonstrating its Field Potato Sorter.

On 2 and 3 September 2015 the entire potato chain will pass the revue again during Potato Europe in Doornik, Belgium. Dewulf and Miedema will show their most recent potato cultivation technology.

Scientific results of the potato field trials in Flanders and the Netherlands demonstrate that gene stacking is necessary for a strong and lasting resistance to late blight (Phytophthora infestans).

La papa ha salvado al mundo de hambrunas. Ahora, papas andinas poco conocidas podrían acabar con la malnutrición. El Centro Internacional de la Papa presentó en Bruselas un proyecto regional con aspiraciones globales.