Potato Review

www.potatoreview.com POTATO REVIEW NOVEMBER 2021 25 AGRICO VARIETY DAYS I N the wake of the industry’s decision to wind down the activities of AHDB Potatoes and Sutton Bridge Crop Storage Research, and with the repercussions – particularly for the seed potato trade – of the UK’s withdrawal from the EU still to be addressed, there was plenty for visitors to debate and discuss at Agrico’s potato variety days held in south Lincolnshire during early September. The breeder was keen to underline its commitment to UK seed and ware growers and to processors. Agrico Executive Director Archie Gibson said: “We’re playing an active part in discussions across the industry that aim to help raise Government awareness of the challenges faced by the potato industry. In particular we’re trying to persuade Government to provide some interim support to keep blight monitoring and aphid monitoring going. “We also continue to play a key part in a concerted effort by European farmers’ unions and seed companies to fight the way the potato seed trade has seemingly been singled-out for constricted trade in the wake of Brexit. We had a healthy and vibrant trade between the UK and continental Europe, but now face challenges to imports and the ban on exports to Northern Ireland.” FOOD FOR THOUGHT Considerations aplenty for debate as varieties exhibited, with focus on ‘Next Generation’. Variety focus on blight resistance Producing 220,000 seedling crosses each year, the first characteristic Agrico Holland seeks in new material is blight resistance. Its Next Generation programme, which focuses on the development of blight-resistant types, was a focus of its variety days. “Everything now coming through our breeding programme now has blight resistance bred into it,” said Archie. “There are other challenges in the UK – PCN, virus Y – but blight predominates, and is a worldwide issue. Each year in November our UK team picks out UK-suitable varieties from our parent firm’s crosses to begin UK trials. That process can take up to 10 years, at the end of which we may have three or four commercial varieties.” A broad range from salads through to reds, industrial types, processors, crispers and bag-trade chippers made up a large part of its plots, but across these it was the firm’s ‘Next Generation’ varieties that took centre stage, in a bid to help growers battle blight. “This is a breeding programme fully focused on more sustainable production and reduced risk for the grower. At around £400/ha, a typical blight programme is a sound insurance policy, and we wouldn’t advocate cutting out applications. This is essentially about giving growers more flexibility managing the timing of fungicide applications, thereby reducing risk.” Among the varieties coming to the fore is Jacky, a very high-yielding salad type producing an average 2.2 million tubers/ ha according to independent assessment by Crop Foresight, and yields averaging 50t/ ha. In the trial plots harvested on September 8, it outyielded its nearest rivals Maris Peer and offshoot Gemson by several tonnes/ha. Agrico UK Product Manager Gavin Towers said the variety is more consistent than other salad types and will produce more small tubers – in some comparisons over 700,000 tubers/ha more than rival varieties – while also eating very well. “Agronomically, it offers dual blight resistance, with double 9 scores,” he said. “In a Eurofins blight trial this season where the field was inoculated, the Markies plot next to the Jacky took blight, yet the Jacky was still green, even though some leaves were touching. We don’t know yet where this is going to go in terms of volume, but the Maris Peer market it fits into is huge. “It yields impressively for a salad type, with tubers of a very consistent sizing, so producing a full marketable yield. Jacky has Multiple challenges complicate next season’s potato market, making careful variety selection even more crucial to minimise risk and maximise market return, says Archie Gibson. ➜