Potato Review

34 POTATO REVIEW MAY/JUNE 2021 TRIALS UPDATES T he Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) has announced the trials taking place at its four Strategic Potato (SPot) Farms during 2021. The four farms are located in Angus, North Lincolnshire, Herefordshire and Suffolk. The trials have been agreed on by a local working group of growers, agronomists and buyers with input from AHDB scientists on the latest information from research projects. This year each of the farms has selected at least one project aimed at protecting their crop from pests and/or disease and another focused on improving the quality of their soil. Head of Arable Knowledge Exchange at AHDB, Richard Meredith said: “These trials are a great way for growers to pick the items from our research programme that are most relevant to the challenges they face and try them out locally. We are hoping to host events at the SPot farms again this year, so growers and agronomists can come and see the trials in action. “We are facing a period of unprecedented change for our industry and there will be challenges ahead as growers strive for excellence. In light of these challenges, we are proud of the impact that the AHDB SPot Farm network has on driving the industry forward.” Will Gagg, Farm Manager at RJ and AE Godfrey AHDB’s SPot Farm North, said: “At SPot North we’ve been cutting back on nitrogen across the board as a result of the trials. There are some varieties where the reduction will be significant. The SPot Farm programme is an excellent way to test and demonstrate innovative practices in a commercial setting. I wanted to choose a trials programme for 2021 that would improve our business and hope that other growers benefit from what we learn along the way.” On the SPot Farm sites around Britain crop protection trial topics include aphid control, potato cyst nematode (PCN) management and blight monitoring. Soil health trials will tackle subjects from cover crops to compaction. L ALLEMAND Plant Care has issued its latest findings on controlling late blight and, as well as in-store sprouting, after recent trials with its partners. To improve the effectiveness of systemic fungicide movement and therefore plant protection, Lallemand Plant Care and Richard Austin Agriculture, examined the osmoprotectant (sap flow enhancer) IntraCell in combination with conventional systemic fungicides used in crop production. Rich in Glycine Betaine ( from plant origin) IntraCell is designed to decrease negative osmotic influences (stresses) on plant cells, increasing systemic effectiveness of foliar applications and consequently increasing uptake and/or movement efficiency of systemic fungicides and other products that are dependent on systemic activity. Against the control, the chemical reference treatment yielded a total of 4.1 t/ha more and the combination of chemical plus IntraCell® treatment yielded 9.4 t/ha more. This combination treatment yielded 5.2 t/ha more than the chemical reference alone. In separate investigations, Lallemand Plant Care and partners have been investigating means of improving MH uptake and movement to treated tubers using IntraCell® in combination with MH applications. “A better content of Maleic Hydrazide is found inside the tubers when applied in a program that associates its application with IntraCell® applications,” a company spokesman told Potato Review. “The level achieved was an average of +10% in the UK trial and +14% in the French trial. There is clearly an improvement in the uptake of this systemic active substance when IntraCell® is used in a combination program with it.” INVESTIGATION INTO LATE BLIGHT AND SPROUTING CONTROL Crop protection and soil health in 2021 trials ‘SPotlight’ at 2021 trials Will Gagg says the SPot Farm programme has helped improve his business. Richard Meredith [right] said AHDB is proud of the impact of SPot Farms. 92% of attendees learn something at a SPot event according to AHDB.