News on Research from Europe

A new predictive method has shown a way to better select parents for new potato varieties, offering a blueprint for better potatoes and a way to speed up the production of higher yield varieties.

Defra and UKRI, as part of the Farming Innovation Programme, recently announced funding for 'Potato-LITE' – a multimillion pound project over four years

Ground-Sensing technology TuberScan - developed by Agri-tech business B-hive Innovations and partners - is entering its final phase of testing both overseas and now in the UK following the start of this year’s weather-delayed potato growing season.

Potato is the third most important food crop in the world after rice and wheat in terms of human consumption. But potato world production is threatened by potato late blight

Growers learn best from other growers. This has been proven by the future-proof seed potato cultivation project, an initiative to examine upcoming changes in potato cultivation with a group of growers.

The Netherlands is committed to developing a sustainable and highly productive food system, with less use of fertilisers, water and pesticides, and more biodiversity and crop diversity.

With weed control a key challenge for farmers, and reduced sensitivity to some herbicides a continuing problem. New product trials by FMC have demonstrated that effective controls are on the horizon.

Potato coop Agrico announced that Peter Oldenkamp will become director of Agrico Research starting August 1, 2023. He succeeds Sjefke Allefs as director. Sjefke Allefs has worked at Agrico Research since 1990, in the position of director for the past 24 years.

The Horizon 2020 EU project Accelerated Development of multiple-stress tolerAnt PoTato (ADAPT), in which Europatat is participating, aims at developing new strategies to make potatoes fit for the challenging growth conditions of the future.

Investigadores de Albacete del grupo de Biología Molecular y Fisiología Vegetal del Instituto Botánico de la Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha (UCLM), junto al grupo de Genómica de Plantas y Biotecnología del IBMCP-CSIC.

The World Potato Congress presents a webinar with Dr. Alison Lees, Potato Pathologist with The James Hutton Institute, Dundee, UK on February 28, 2023 at 9.00am Eastern Standard Time (EST).

From 8 to 10 February 2023, thirty-two Belgian suppliers of fruit and vegetables, potatoes and fruit trees, together with three trade associations and four fruit and vegetable auctions, will present themselves at the joint stand of Flanders’ Agricultural Marketing Board, VLAM, at Fruit Logistica in hall 27, at stand A 22.

The Horizon 2020 EU project Accelerated Development of multiple-stress tolerAnt PoTato (ADAPT), in which Europatat is participating, aims at developing new strategies to make potatoes fit for the challenging growth conditions of the future.

Researchers at ETH Zurich and the Carnegie Institution for Science have shown how nitrogen fertilizer could be produced more sustainably. This is necessary not only to protect the climate, but also to reduce dependence on imported natural gas and to increase food security.

Neiker technology center, member of the Basque Research and Technology Alliance (BRTA), and the Alava cooperative UDAPA have signed a transfer agreement until 2032 for the potato varieties Beltza and Edurn.

The ADAPT project aims at developing new strategies to make potatoes fit for the challenging growth conditions of the future. Within this project, potato varieties trials are conducted in Austria.

In this new position, Joost will be responsible for the downstream part of Solynta, leading product management, commercial and go to market strategies.

The Conference main theme was 'EUPPA driving sustainability across the potato processing sector'. It was the first gathering of the kind since the Covid-19 outbreak.