News on Potato Varieties and Seed from Europe

La temporada de cultivo de 2023 trajo desafíos sin precedentes para los productores de semilla de papa en Europa. Condiciones climáticas desfavorables y una reducción en la superficie sembrada han provocado retrasos en la siembra, disminución de los rendimientos y una importante escasez de semilla.

Luonnosta Finland Oy and Phil Rayner announced the establishment of Luonnosta UK Ltd. Luonnosta’s strategy for several years has been to develop international business and strengthen networks worldwide.

Here is a sneak peek into one of the many test fields Solynta is currently harvesting. They will be assessing the quality of the tubers, tuber size, dry matter composition, taste, robustness and many other important traits per variety.

Agrico acquires Royal ZAP’s seed potato activities. By means of this acquisition, Agrico has taken a step towards expanding its acreage, in order to meet demand.

The European seed potato industry has a long history of producing and supplying high-quality planting material to European and overseas growers.

Potato Europe 2023, recently held in Tournai, Belgium, became more international than we saw in the past years. Visitors from all around the world visited the event to see the latest European potato technologies.

On Thursday, September 14, 2023, potato breeder Royal HZPC Group B.V. became a target of a form of cybercrime. A large amount of money was transferred to a bank account of criminals.

Gordon MP Richard Thomson has welcomed confirmation from DEFRA that exports of seed potatoes from Scotland to Northern Ireland can restart from September 30, but has reacted with disbelief that the UK Government hasn’t raised the issue of exports to the EU since March.

Dutch innovative hybrid potato breeder Solynta announced that Peter Poortinga will join the company as Chief Executive Officer as per September 15.

The last 4 months was not easy going for the potato production in the NEPG region. But despite the difficult weather conditions, first yield estimates suggest a return to multi-year averages, with an estimated harvest of around 23 million tonnes of potatoes.

Princesa Amandine will participate in Fruit Attraction (from October 3 to 5 at IFEMA Madrid) and can be found at the stands of three of its partners, Udapa (10G06, hall 10), Ibérica de Patatas (5E06, hall 5) and Campotec (8C08, stand Portugal Fresh 2023).

Seed potato supplier Europlant Pflanzenzucht GmbH establishes a subsidiary in Spain to expand its market presence in the Mediterranean. Going forward, Europlant Espana Semillas S.L. will be responsible for the distribution of the modern and high-performance potato varieties in Spain.

Solynta's potato variety was the only one to survive the high late blight pressure in the field among three other commercial varieties planted alongside.

Agrico, Nedato and Leo de Kock announced the name of the new, independent cooperative of common consumption potatoes: PotatoNext. This joint cooperative marks an important milestone in the potato industry and will be the result of a close collaboration between the three renowned companies.

The UK potato sector has been going through a better spell this year, but it did take a long time for the potato shortage to feed back to growers as there was still crop from the previous year on the market and the prices didn’t increase until around mid-May.

The North-western European Potato Growers (NEPG) estimate the area of ware potatoes has increased by 2 to 3%. This is slightly higher than the record in 2020, when it was 522.000 ha for the EU-4 (NL, BE, DE, FR).

Europlant Pflanzenzucht GmbH presents itself with a new, modern brand image. A new logo, new colours and new fonts create a contemporary corporate identity.

You may think of a seed as tiny and insignificant. Don’t be fooled: its impact on global agriculture is immense. The seed industry is constantly balancing innovation with bringing value to growers.