Potatoes… - Bayer CropScience

COURIER
The Bayer CropScience Magazine for Modern Agriculture 1/08
The Potato:
A crop with
prospects

Contents
2 Asia is the new continent for
potatoes
6 Bayer CropScience supports
China’s potato development
8 The potato – versatile
and nutritious
12 The UK Potato Project –
Participation that paid off
14 ‘Innovation and knowledge
determine our success’
18 Phytophthora infestans is
becoming increasingly
aggressive
21 New combination of active
substances against potato blight
22 Colorado beetle and aphids –
threatening, but manageable
26 Potatoes…
from Peru to the world
28 Potato starch –
a versatile commodity
Asia is the
new contine
for potatoes
Published by: Bayer CropScience AG, Monheim / Editor:
Bernhard Grupp / With contributions from: Agroconcept
GmbH, K. Doughty, S. Rudolph, A. Schirring, C. Wang,
M. Wiedenau / Design and Layout: Xpertise, Langenfeld /
Litho graphy: LSD GmbH & Co. KG, Düsseldorf / Printed by:
Dynevo GmbH, Leverkusen / Repro duction of contents is
per missible providing Bayer is acknowl edged and advised
by specimen copy / Editor’s address: Bayer CropScience
AG, Corporate Commu ni cations, Alfred-Nobel-Str. 50,
40789 Monheim am Rhein, Germany, FAX: 0049-2173-
383454 / Website: www.bayercropscience.com
Forward-Looking Statements
This publication may contain forward-looking statements
based on current assumptions and forecasts made by
Bayer Group or subgroup management. Various known and
unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors could lead
to material differences between the actual future results,
financial situation, development or performance of the
company and the estimates given here. These factors
include those discussed in Bayer’s public reports which are
available on the Bayer website at www.bayer.com. The
company assumes no liability whatsoever to update these
forward-looking statements or to conform them to future
events or developments.
Today, the potato is grown in 130 countries,
on all continents of the world. Asia
und Oceania have now overtaken Europe
as the world’s most important producers. In
2007, 320 million tonnes of potatoes were
harvested from around 19.2 million ha of
land around the world. The areas of greatest
production are Asia (8.7 million ha under
cultivation) and continental Europe
(7.4 million ha). Within the latter region,
cultivation is concentrated in the Russian
Federation, the European Union, and the
Ukraine.
During the last two decades, potatogrowing
has declined in developed countries,
but it has seen an increase in developing
countries and newly-industrialising
countries – particularly in Asia. This
change has resulted not only from an
extension of the area under cultivation,
but also through a broader inclusion of
potatoes in the rotation system, which has
been made possible by the availability of
early-ripening varieties. With a vegetative
period of 80 to 100 days, these varieties
fit well into cultivation gaps between
traditional crops, for example between rice
and wheat in India.
The cultivation methods used in developing
countries and newly-industrialising
countries vary considerably according to
grow ing conditions and market circumstances.
In the Andes, Central Africa and
the Himalayas, potatoes are grown by hand
on small subsistence farms. But in most of
the other regions, cultivation is largely
mechanised.
South America, the continent that
originally gave the world the potato, is now
in fact the region with the smallest potato
2 COURIER 1/08

World potato production 1991-2007
(in million tonnes)
Blue: developed countries
Orange: developing countries
World potato production 1991-2007
Blue: developed countries
Orange: developing countries
200
150
100
nt
50
0
Countries
1991 1993 1995 1997 1999 2001 2003 2005 2007
million tonnes
❚ Developed 183.13 199.31 177.47 174.63 165.93 166.94 160.97 159.99 155.53
❚ Developing 84.86 101.95 108.50 128.72 135.15 145.92 152.11 160.12 165.13
WORLD 257.25 301.27 285.97 303.36 301.08 312.86 313.09 320.11 320.67
Source: FAOSTAT
harvest (less than 16 million tonnes in
2006 and 2007). Traditionally, potatoes are
grown on small family farms in the Peruvian
Andes. However, potato cultivation
has increased in recent years in Argentina,
Brazil, Columbia and Mexico, where the impetus
for expansion has come from larger
farm-owners, often working together with
breeding organisations.
Fast Food leads the way
in the USA
In 2007, the USA harvested 17.6 million
tonnes, making it the fifth-largest potato
producer in the world. Cultivation is
concentrated in the following states: Idaho,
Washington, Wisconsin, North Dakota and
Colorado. Only a third of all potatoes produced
in the USA is destined for consumption
as fresh produce: around 60% is either
processed into frozen foods such as French
fries, or is made into crisps and starch.
The remaining 6% is retained as seed for
planting.
Canada lies in 12th place on the FAO
list of world producers, with around 5 million
tonnes of production. This reflects a steady
increase since the 1990s that has been driven
by the international export demand for
processed potato products. Thirty-seven
percent of the harvest goes into processing
for export: the biggest customer here is the
USA.
Giants of potato production –
China and India
The combined region of Asia and Oceania
is the world leader in potato production.
The People’s Republic of China produced
72 million tonnes in 2007 (more than
a fifth of the world’s harvest) on around
5 million ha, the world’s largest area under
cultivation (25% of the total). Nevertheless,
potato cultivation is less widespread
in China than maize- and sweet potatogrowing:
the latter crops are used as the
basis for animal feed, whereas the potato is
used mainly for human nutrition (30 kg per
person per year according to FAO figures).
Potato production in India has increased
more than eight-fold within the last
30 years. Today, with its annual harvest of
26 million tonnes, India is the world’s
third-largest producer.
Australia and New Zealand are among
the smaller potato-producing nations, with
a major part of the harvest going into
processing. Impressively high yields are
1/08 COURIER 3

achieved in New Zealand – more than
45 tonnes per ha on average, and up to a
maximum of 70 tonnes. The potato is
among the New Zealanders’ favourite vegetables,
and this is reflected in the figure
for consumption per head – 66 kg a year.
Russia is continental Europe’s
potato king
Until the 20th century, continental Europe
was easily the world’s largest producer of
potatoes. Today, seven European countries
still rank among the world’s ten largest
producers. The leader of the pack is
Russia, with production at 35.7 million
tonnes a year from an area of around 3 million
ha (2006 figure). Second place goes to
the Ukraine, with around 19 million tonnes
from 1.5 million ha. Despite the large
harvests they produce, these two Eastern-
European heavyweights hardly feature at
all as export countries: even today, a large
proportion of the harvest is still lost as the
result of diseases and unsuitable storage
conditions.
With its harvest of 11.6 million tonnes
in 2007, Germany is Europe’s number
three potato producer, and number six in
the world. Despite a 30% decrease in
production and harvested yield over the
last 30 years, Germany remains the largest
Top potato producers
Quantity (tonnes), 2007
1. China 72,000,000
2. Russian Fed. 35,718,000
3. India 26,280,000
4. Ukraine 19,102,300
5. USA 17,653,920
6. Germany 11,604,500
7. Poland 11,221,100
8. Belarus 8,700,000
9. Netherlands 7,200,000
10. France 6,271,000
kg per capita, 2006
1. Belarus 835.6
2. Netherlands 425.1
3. Ukraine 414.8
4. Denmark 291.1
5. Latvia 286.0
6. Poland 271.5
7. Belgium 267.4
8. Lithuania 261.2
9. Russian Fed. 259.0
10. Kyrgyzstan 219.4
producer in Western Europe. The harvest is
used as follows: 6.5 million tonnes become
processed foods and 3.3 million tonnes are
destined for starch production for the domestic
market; a further 3.3 million tonnes
of fresh potatoes and processed products
are exported. Germany is also the numberone
importer of early potatoes for eating –
around 550.000 tonnes (2005 figure),
mainly from France, Italy and Egypt.
The third-largest Eastern European producer
is Poland, with around 11 million
tonnes harvested from around 600,000 ha.
Poland has slipped to 10th place in the
world ranking 2006 as the result of a
decline in production in recent years and
due to adverse weather conditions. But
potatoes are still produced on more than
2 million small-scale farms, representing
about 10% of the agricultural area. Half of
the harvest ends up in animal feed; only a
quarter is used for food production.
Constant level of production
in Holland
The Netherlands has a special place in
European potato cultivation. While the
area of cultivation in Europe as a whole
continues to fall, it remains constant in
Holland. The root crop occupies a quarter of
Dutch agricultural land, and Dutch farmers
achieve record yields of more than 45 tonnes
per ha. Only one half of production is destined
for consumption: 20% is reserved as
seed, and the remaining 30% goes to starch
production. Holland is the world’s premier
producer of certified seed potatoes, with
exports of 700,000 tonnes a year.
France is the leading European exporter
of fresh potatoes (1.5 million tonnes in
2006), especially to Southern Europe.
Some two million tonnes are destined for
the domestic market and one million
tonnes for the processing industry.
With a harvest of around 3.3 million
tonnes, Belgium is among the smaller
European producers, but its farmers are
nevertheless capable of achieving high
yields (around 43 tonnes per ha). More
than 80% of production is processed to
crisps, French fries, starch and other products,
of which more than 1 million tonnes
(2006 figure) are exported.
Diversity of uses
Potatoes are suited to a large variety of
nutritional and technical uses. Less than
50% of the global potato harvest is consumed
in the form of the fresh vegetable.
The largest proportion goes into processing
and refining for food products and food additives.
A significant amount is either used
as the basis for feed for cattle and pigs, or
is processed to starch for industrial use.
Finally, a smaller proportion is retained as
seed potatoes for the following season.
The global trend in terms of consumption
is moving away from the potato as a
basic, staple food, with a shift towards
refined, processed products. The most common
form of processed potatoes is French
fries, as offered in fast food restaurants
around the world. Production is widely
standardized: peeled potatoes are cut into
strips, heated, air-dried, fried, frozen and
finally, packaged. The annual global turn -
over of industrially-prepared French fries is
in the order of more than 11 million tonnes.
Potato flakes and granules are produced
by drying the raw potato down to a water
content of 5 to 8%. These are used as food
additives or in potato products for the convenience
food sector. Further dried potato
products include potato flour and potato
powder. These products are gluten-free,
with a high starch content. Potato flour is
used widely by the food industry as a binding
agent for prepared meals and soups.
Compared with starches from wheat and
maize, potato starch is almost tasteless,
and shows stronger binding properties. Potatoes
are also fermented to allow
the distillation of alcohol, particularly in
Eastern Europe and Scandinavia: vodka
and aquavit are two well-known examples.
Potato starch is also used widely in the
pharmaceutical, textile, wood and paper
industries as a binding agent and to
provide structure.
4 COURIER 1/08

Potato production by region 2007
Potato boom in Asia
In Asian countries (particularly China and
India), the level of potato consumption has
increased many times over within a relatively
short period. This is attributable not
only to population growth, but also to
changing consumer preferences. Citydwellers
in particular see the potato as a
valuable food with a modern, western
touch, so economic growth tends to
increase demand. In contrast, demand for
potatoes in Western Europe and other industrialised
countries has tended to decline
over the years, although the decline appears
to have slowed recently.
Globally speaking, potato consumption
is set to increase further in the future.
It is expected to exceed 400 million tonnes
by the year 2020, an increase of about a
quarter over today’s levels. The European
potato industry should take a careful look
at the potato sector in developing countries
– not only for humanitarian reasons, but
also from an economic point of view.
While the demand for potatoes is stagnating
here in Europe, markets in Asia are expanding
rapidly. Similar trends should also
be expected from Africa und Latin America
in the medium term. International trade
in potatoes and potato products is con -
tinuously on the increase, so a significant
export potential exists for European
industry.
Production quantity
This also applies to breeding. The major
breeding companies are focussing increasingly
on the Asian market. An adage of
potato marketing is that if everybody in
China and Asia were to eat only a single,
small packet of crisps (100 g) once a year,
world potato production wouldn’t be able
to meet the demand. For comparison, the
average annual consumption of crisps in
the USA is 3,000 g, and in Germany
around 1,000 g per person. ■
Harvested area Quantity Yield
hectares tonnes tonnes/hectares
Africa 1,503,145 16,308,530 10.84
Asia/Oceania 8,742,257 137,142,946 15.68
Europe 7,439,553 128,608,372 17.28
Latin America 962,494 15,986,155 16.60
North America 614,972 22,625,958 40.63
WORLD 19,262,421 320,671,961 16.64
Source: FAOSTAT
Mechthilde Becker-Weigel
wirtschaftsdienst agrar

Bayer CropScience
supports China’s
potato development
China is the world’s largest potato-growing
country: with 5 million hectares under
cultivation in 2007, it accounted for
25% of the world’s total production.
Eighty-five percent of China’s growing
area is distributed in the North (single
cropping) and South-West (double
cropping) of the country. The average yield
per hectare is about 16 tonnes. Currently,
most of China’s potato production is used
fresh for eating (60%); processing to potato
chips, French fries and fast-frozen food
only accounts for about 10%.
The development of China’s potato
market has been hampered by a lack of
access to various technologies: only 25%
of planted seed potatoes are certified
virus-free, and only 1% of farmers use
machinery in potato production. In addition,
most farmers lack knowledge of pest
and disease control methodology.
But things are changing. As the 5th
largest crop in China, the potato is gaining
in importance. The yield per unit area of
rice, corn and wheat is not expected to increase
due to technology limitations. The
potato can yield three to four times as much
as these crops per hectare – and it is also
more drought-resistant than rice and wheat.
As 60% of China’s arable land is dry, potato
growing is regarded by the government as
one of the best ways of meeting the
increasing food demand of 1.3 billion
people, as well as a good opportunity for
farmers to improve their income. With
strong support from the government, the
potato-planting area is expected to increase
further to 6.6 million hectares; the use of
Trucks loaded with
potatoes at a
purchasing station in
Xiji county, North-West
China.
6 COURIER 1/08

virus-free seed potatoes will also be encouraged.
In terms of usage, processing into
potato chips, French fries and fast-frozen
food will have increased strongly by 2010.
Modern solutions
Bayer CropScience first entered the potato
market in China in 2007. The company
is able to provide a product portfolio
(Gaucho ® for seed treatment, Antracol ®
for Alternaria control and Infinito ® for
Phytophthora control) that is well-suited
to China’s potato production conditions.
Bayer CropScience is actively cooperating
with the relevant government organizations
towards the introduction of state-ofthe-art
crop protection solutions. In 2007,
large scale demonstrations of Infinito and
Antracol were organised in several key
provinces. In addition, many field seminars
were held, during which Bayer CropScience
sales personnel trained farmers how to
grow healthy potatoes and demonstrated
the efficacy of Bayer CropScience product
solutions. “We intend to offer advanced
technical solutions to potato growers and
to help them to increase yield and improve
quality, so that they can meet customers’
demand for healthy potatoes,” says Eric
Tesson, Head of Business Development at
Bayer CropScience in China.
With the rapid development of China’s
potato market, some big international food
companies have begun actively operating
in China, with some success. They have
their own potato supply chains as well as
their own potato farms, where high-quality
potatoes can be produced using modern
farm management and pest and disease
control technologies. Bayer CropScience
has established good business relationships
with these companies and is providing
the necessary support by offering training
and sharing knowledge of good practice
in potato farming and management
gained abroad. Bayer CropScience is sharing
its wide-ranging expertise in plant
health to enable growers to produce highquality
potatoes.
Bayer CropScience is already an active
player in China’s potato market. We will
continue to do our best to support the
development of China’s potato industry
by providing a comprehensive, practical
package of technologies – to ensure that
Chinese consumers enjoy high-quality,
healthy potatoes. ■
1/08 COURIER 7

The potato –
In many parts of the world, the potato is becoming an
increasingly popular source of nutrition. It contains a number
of valuable components. We interviewed a potato expert:
Sabine Sulzer, Product Manager for plant-derived products at
the CMA (Central Marketing Organisation of German
Agricultural Indu stries).
8 COURIER 1/08

Sabine Sulzer, Product
Manager for plant-derived
products at the CMA (Central
Marketing Organisation of
German Agri cultural Industries)
Sulzer: In industrial countries, the trend is
in the opposite direction. Europe is still
second only to Asia in terms of global
production, but cultivation there has been
declining continuously for some years now.
The Europeans, with their consumption
per person of 96 kg, are still the potatolovers
par excellence. Nevertheless, conversatile
and nutritious
Courier: Mrs Sulzer, the United Nations
have declared 2008 the International
Year of the Potato – why
Sulzer: Against a background of growing
global problems, such as hunger, poverty
and environmental degradation, the potato
is becoming an increasingly important
source of nutrition for the world’s population.
That’s why the General Assembly of
the United Nations have declared 2008 the
International Year of the Potato.
Courier: How important is the potato
Sulzer: The potato is the world’s fourthmost
important staple food after rice,
wheat and maize. In 2006, 314 mio. tonnes
of potatoes were harvested globally.
Indeed, the potato is the only staple food
that has seen an increase in the area cultivated
around the world in recent years.
Developing countries in particular have
shown a continuous increase in cultivation;
in 2005, for the first time, more potatoes
were harvested in these countries than in
industrial countries. The “spud” is well on
its way to becoming one of our most im-
portant sources of nutrition. It alleviates
hunger and poverty, particularly in rural
areas.
Courier: And how is the situation
looking in industrial countries
1/08 COURIER 9

Potatoes contribute important nutrients, vitamins and minerals to the daily menu. As well as being rich in valuable nutrients,
they can also be prepared and cooked in a variety of ways. Photos: CMA, Germany
sumption is on the wane. Germany is the
European Union’s biggest producer of
potatoes and is ranked number six in
terms of global production. But consumption
per person here (66 kg) lies below the
European average. The most prominent
change has been the consumers’ move
away from fresh potatoes towards
processed potato products. Indeed, this
applies to all industrial nations.
Courier: What makes the potato so
suitable for human consumption
Sulzer: Potatoes have a broad spectrum of
valuable contents and they are among the
foods with the highest nutrient density,
which is a measure of the balance between
the nutrients a food contains and its energy
content. Here, the potato does especially
well. It has a calorie content of only 70
kilocalories per 100 grammes of cooked
potato, but at the same time it contributes a
major part of our need for biologicallyuseful
proteins, carbohydrates, vitamins
and minerals.
Courier: So the potato isn’t simply
the “fattener“, as its reputation would
have it
Sulzer: No, certainly not. This myth
derives from the potato’s capacity to make
one feel sated. The low calorie content is
an inverse result of the high water content
(80%). Moreover, the potato contains hardly
any fat. The energy content is comparable
with, or even slightly lower than, that
of cooked rice (84 kilocalories) and pasta
(94 kilocalories per 100 g). This disproves
the myth that the potato is a fattening food.
Courier: Why is the potato’s protein
content always emphasized At 2% of
fresh material, it doesn’t seem especially
high.
Sulzer: The potato’s high water content
means that its protein content is – relatively
speaking – low. Nevertheless, the protein
it does contain is highly valuable –
with a favourable composition in terms of
essential amino acids. The essential amino
acid lysine, in particular, is present in high
quantities. For these reasons, potato proteins
are among the most beneficial of all
the proteins available from plant-derived
products, and they complement those contained
in animal-derived foods when
served together. For example, the combination
of potato and egg provides a very
favourable spectrum of proteins.
Courier: What’s the main constituent
of a potato besides water
Sulzer: At 16g per 100g, the carbohydrates
(mainly in the form of starch) are the
second-most prominent group of constituents
in the potato; they also deliver the
most energy. In fact, raw potato starch is
practically indigestible for people; it only
becomes so after simmering in water at a
temperature around the boiling point. This
is why you shouldn’t eat potatoes raw. The
fact that the starch gradually breaks down
into glucose (a building block of sugars)
during digestion is very positive in terms
of nutritional physiology. Roughage, in the
form of indigestible carbohydrates, is present
at up to 2 % in the potato; it contributes
to the feeling of satedness and helps to
ensure regular intestinal movement.
Courier: And what about vitamins
and minerals
Sulzer: When it comes to vitamins, it’s the
high vitamin C content that should be
emphasised: this is why the potato is sometimes
also called the “lemon of the North“.
For example, a young, cooked potato
10 COURIER 1/08

Some tips for
preparing potatoes
• Cooking in a little water with the
skin left on is the best way of
preserving the nutritional value of
potatoes during preparation.
• In order to avoid loss of vitamins,
boiled potatoes shouldn’t be kept
warm for too long.
• Potatoes should always be stored
in the dark, under cool, dry
conditions (although not in the
refrigerator). The optimal storage
temperature for potatoes is
about 4°C.
with its skin contains 15 mg vitamin C per
100 g, which is slightly more than an apple
does (10 mg). A 200 g portion of potato
covers 28% of an adult’s daily vitamin C
requirement. But this high content can
decrease considerably during long storage,
or if the potatoes are prepared and cooked
in the wrong way. Potatoes are also a good
source of the water-soluble B-vitamins and
niacin. Regarding minerals, potatoes have
a high potassium content, and at the same
time, a low sodium content. This is why the
potato is often recommended in special
diets. Ten percent of the recommended
daily intake of magnesium can be covered
by a 200 g portion of potato. Phosphorus
and iron are also present in significant concentrations.
Incidentally, the high vitamin
C-content encourages the uptake of iron
into the blood.
Courier: Nutritional science has been
focussing a lot on secondary plant
substances recently. Do potatoes
contain secondary plant substances
Sulzer: Secondary plant substances arise
as the result of the plant’s metabolism. This
group is thought to comprise 60-100,000
chemically-different substances. They serve
the plant in many ways: for colouration; in
defence against pests and diseases; and as
aromas. For people, they can have a variety
of health-promoting effects: for example
by stimulating the immune system and
defence against infection, and by preventing
the oxidation of other substances. Potatoes
contain their share of secondary substances:
mainly carotenoids, polyphenols,
protease-inhibitors, phytic acids und
anthocyanins. But depending on how the
potatoes are prepared, some secondary
substances can be inactivated. For example,
simmering causes protease-inhibitors
to lose their activity entirely.
Courier: Has this new knowledge of the
potato’s nutritional value led to a change
of perception among consumers
Sulzer: In 2005, we conducted a market
survey of consumers to investigate the
potato’s image. A total of more than 1,000
heads of households throughout Germany
aged 18 or older were questioned in personal
interviews. The study showed that
the potato is still today a valued part of our
diet. Around two-thirds of households
cook fresh potatoes several times a week.
The versatile spud, which enjoys a high
level of popularity here in Germany, is
predominantly seen as a well-proven, traditional
and important basic food. But a
change of image is under way between the
generations: older consumers are more
likely to consider the potato to be a modern,
up-to-date product than the younger
consumer. Indeed, the potato is losing its
relevance in the diets of younger households.
Courier: How do you see the potato’s
future in terms of consumer behaviour
Sulzer: People’s interest in being able to
prepare dishes quickly and easily will be
the main driver in the continuing move
towards processed potato products. The
potato will also score points in future
because of the numerous ways of preparing
it. There’s a potato dish available for every
taste: chips, mashed potato, dumplings,
fried potato, gnocchi etc. There’s no limit
to how potatoes can be prepared.
Courier: Mrs Sulzer, let’s end
with a personal question: what’s your
favourite potato dish
Sulzer: Coming as I do from Bavaria, my
favourite dish since childhood has been
potato dumplings with lots of sauce. But
preparing the dumplings from scratch is
too much work for me, so I tend to go for
the ready-mixed dumplings from the cold
compartment. ■
1/08 COURIER 11

The UK Potato Project –
Participation that paid off
The whole is greater than the sum of its
parts, they say. It certainly applies to Food
Chain Partnership. Because, if all members
of the chain – from field to fork – become
partners who understand each others
needs and requirements, everyone gains.
Bayer CropScience therefore encourages
and facilitates Food Chain Partnerships all
over the world, contributing the company’s
own expertise and extensive knowledge.
One such partnership was the UK Potato
Project introduced here.
As customers increasingly become
aware of what they eat, their expectations
are on the rise. After a number of food
scares, such as the BSE crisis, legislation
within the EU has put more emphasis on
consumer and retailer expectations in terms
of high-quality and safe produce.
In this context, the market in the United
Kingdom is particularly advanced with a
strong involvement of retailers and processors
in food production. Against this background
Bayer CropScience was to launch
Infinito ® , a new product against potato late
blight.
While the general aim for all members
of the potato food chain should be highquality,
healthy-looking potatoes, individual
members have different requirements
and demands on a new crop protection prod -
uct. To farmers, high effectiveness against
Phytophtora as well as operator and environmental
safety is paramount. But flexible
dose rates and spraying intervals are
also important. Next in the line, potato
processors are confronted with a) consu -
mers’ quality expectations and b) technical
demands such as the shape and size of
potatoes and their frying qualities to guarantee
successful processing at a reasonable
price. Retailers finally, especially those in
the fresh potato segment, have to cope with
consumers’ sensibility towards looks and
cooking properties of fresh food. To them,
healthy and clean potato skin is of great
importance. In order to best meet the different
expectations of those involved, Bayer
CropScience decided to invite all members
of the potato value chain to field trials
and cooperate with them in the final development
of Infinito.
Sabine Stolz, Food Chain Manager
Europe and Global Key Relation Manager
for UK supermarket retailers at the Bayer
CropScience Headquarters in Monheim,
points out: “There are two strategies in
Food Chain Partnerships we pursue at Bayer
CropScience. Usually the emphasis lies on
individual crop cultures where, for a particular
location or situation, we help define
a schedule of crop protection measures to
be taken over the course of the year. Of
course, only registered, approved
crop protection products can be
included in this schedule.
The UK Potato
Project was something
new for us.
Here, the potato value chain members were
involved at the developmental stage of a
new crop protection product already.”
Patrick Mitton, Cambridge-based food
industry stewardship manager, says: “At
Bayer CropScience, we naturally want to
introduce products that are tailored to the
demands of the market. It is essential to develop
products that satisfy our customers’
expectations and offer the best possible solution
for all interested parties.”
To begin with, the new product’s active
substance, fluopicolide, had a favourable
technical profile. Not only does it offer
outstanding efficacy, particularly in respect
of tuber blight control. It also met the expectations
of the food companies. But
there is always room to improve things. So,
two seasons before the launch of Infinito,
many British farmers, processors and retailers
were asked for their ideas and recommendations
for a product profile. During
the two year pre-launch development
The potato farmer’s aim:
high-quality and
healthy-looking potatoes.
12 COURIER 1/08

phase, representatives from
across the complete potato supply
chain were invited to visit
the field trials.
“Together we evaluated the
dose rates and spraying intervals
to be considered”, Patrick Mitton explains.
“Potato chain members thus had the
chance to contribute to the final design of
the new product, knowing their participation
was going to pay off and be of advantage to
them.”
In the end, the technical profile of Infinito
was so finely tuned to the expectations
of a crop protection product by the
UK food supply chain, that if they had
been asked to design a product to satisfy
their needs, Infinito would have been the
result. Food businesses in the UK were
keen to support the product from the first
day of commercial launch. This isn’t the
norm, as Sabine Stolz reveals: “Usually, a
new crop protection product is developed
Patrick Mitton, Food Industry Manager for Bayer
CropScience in the United Kingdom.
and launched without involvement of food
chain members. The big retailers then wait
and see until they have gathered enough information
about the benefits of the product.
This takes about a year or two on average.
Only then do they give their approval and
include the new crop protection product on
their lists.”
Not with Infinito. Due to the UK Potato
Project, confidence was so high right from
the start that the new product was placed
on all recommendation protocol lists, thus
ensuring a commercial “free passage” in
time for the growing season. So much was
the enthusiasm, that players from across
the complete food supply chain requested
Sabine Stolz, Food Chain Manager Europe, at Bayer
CropScience Headquarters in Monheim, Germany
the use by brand. Sabine Stolz smiles:
“Everyone knows Infinito, everybody wants
to use it.” Patrick Mitton adds: “We feel a
great sense of achievement when we hear
the great retailers request Bayer Crop-
Science products by name.”
Moreover, the UK Potato Project has
increased trust, flexibility and a great relationship
among all parties involved. “It
was a decidedly positive experience”,
Sabine Stolz recalls. “We did not expect
such a great response. Now we have adopted
the same strategy for a product that will
be launched in two years time on a different
market. From the UK Potato Project
we’ve learned just how important and
meaningful it is to involve all food chain
partners at a very early stage already –
especially in the development
of a new product.” ■
1/08 COURIER 13

Agrico and HZPC on the future of
Dutch potato cultivation:
‘Innovation
and knowledge
determine
our success’
Just as for other agricultural
crops, seed potato
cultivation will also be
dominated by scaling up
in the coming years.
Experts in the sector
anticipate that in ten
years’ time, only about
2,000 of the present
3,000 seed-potato
growers will remain. It is
expected, however, that
the present cultivated
area of 36,000 hectares
will remain stable.
14 COURIER 1/08

For more than a century, the Netherlands
has been a leader in seed potato production.
With an area of approx. 36,000
hectares, it accounts for about 40 percent
of the total Western European acreage. The
Netherlands is the leader in the fields of
new varieties and export, and has made a
name for itself in terms of cultivation
knowledge and modernization. But will
this remain the case Competition from other
countries has increased in recent years,
with France, Germany and Scotland in the
lead. How are Dutch commercial companies
dealing with this And how do they
plan to remain leaders in the world of seed
potatoes The two largest commercial
companies, HZPC and Agrico, give their
vision of the future in five main areas
(competition, varieties, licenses, diseases
and knowledge).
Competition
“Yes, it is true - the Netherlands is losing
something of its lead.” Gerard Backx, General
Director of the commercial seed potato
company HZPC does not beat about the
bush. He sees other countries, with France
furthest ahead, slowly stealing a share of
the market from the Netherlands. “But you
have to consider this in proportion,” he
emphasizes. “Each year the Netherlands
exports about 700,000 tonnes of seed potatoes.
Our most important competitors
France, Scotland and Germany together
export about 230,000 tonnes. I anticipate
that in the coming years, the relationship
will shift at the very most by a few thousand
tonnes. So we are therefore talking
about an approximate one percent change.”
One area in which the Netherlands is miles ahead
of other countries at the moment is the breeding
of (successful) new varieties. Both Agrico and
HZPC are making an important contribution to this
through their own breeding operations (Agrico
Research and HZPC Metslawier).
However, Backx is not saying that the
Netherlands has nothing to fear. “As a
leading seed potato-producing country,
we shall have to keep up in terms of knowledge,
quality and modernization. Other
countries are busily catching up on all
three points. We must therefore do everything
we can to maintain our lead.”
France in particular is doing well
Jan Van Hoogen, Commercial Director at
the commercial potato company Agrico,
confirms these efforts to overtake the
Netherlands. In his view, France in particular
has made great progress. “With regard
to cultivation knowledge, mechanization
and storage technology, the French are no
longer behind the Netherlands. They can
grow potatoes just as well as we can.”
Van Hoogen emphasizes that the emergence
of other countries is not disadvantageous
for the Netherlands per se. “All large
Dutch commercial companies have subsidiaries
or establishments in France,
Germany and Scotland. And in recent
years, they have all grown considerably.
As a result, the market share of Dutch
varieties has also increased greatly. A large
part of the money that we earn from this
returns to benefit Dutch growers.”
Varieties
One point in which the Netherlands remains
miles ahead of other countries is the
breeding of (successful) new varieties.
Both Agrico and HZPC are playing an important
role here with their own breeding
operations (Agrico Research and HZPC
Metslawier). The two commercial companies
each deal in about 100 different potato
varieties, the majority of which they
have bred themselves.
HZPC director Backx says that about
70 of the 100 varieties are being actively
produced and marketed. The others are
either in the introductory or run-down
phases. HZPC aims to get three new cultivars
onto the European List of Varieties
each year. Of these, at least one must
become a commercial success, which
requires that after an introductory period
of three to five years, at least 100 hectares
must be cultivated, with total production of
at least 3000 tonnes. If the variety does not
reach this threshold, it will be withdrawn
from the market as quickly as possible.
“The reality is that many varieties remain
on the borderline. You have to clear these
out so that the successful varieties get
more space on the plots,” is how Backx
describes the strategy. In practice, this
sometimes meets with resistance – but this
is part of the trade, he says. “In the case of
the potato, there is an enormous hodgepodge
of wishes from around the world.
We try to meet these as much as we can –
but not at any price. Sometimes varieties
do well in small niches. But the niches
must ultimately contribute to the orga -
nization’s results. If that fails, we get our
fingers burnt. A variety must be profitable.”
Well-known varieties have a lot of power
According to Backx, the success of a variety
depends on many factors. Obviously
the properties of the variety play a very important
role, but the ‘pulling power’ of the
known major varieties must not be underestimated.
For HZPC, these are above all
the varieties Spunta and Desirée – both
breeds from the ‘forebears’ of the company,
Hettema and De ZPC. Backx: “In important
export markets such as North
Africa, Spunta in particular has a cast-iron
image. The variety stands for confidence,
quality and reliability. For growers in this
region, a new variety should preferably
have the shape and qualities of a Spunta.
And of course the variety must be demonstrably
better.” HZPC does indeed have an
‘improved Spunta’, Backx says. “Only it
takes a great deal of time and effort to
convince our customers of this.”
‘Breed what the customer wants’
According to Agrico Commercial Director
Van Hoogen, the secret of a successful
breed always lies in the wishes of the
customer or consumer. “The art is therefore
to remain in discussion with all parties
in the chain, so that you can provide them
as far as possible with varieties that
possess the desired qualities.” As an example,
he gives the desire of the French fries
industry to be able to use the same variety
all year round, in order not to have to make
any changes in the factory, and to be able
to supply a constant quality to the end-user.
“For us, that means a continuous search for
varieties that produce a high yield early in
the season, and allow storage until the new
season without loss of quality. The closer
we come to that, the more rapidly new
varieties are accepted.”
Licenses
The use of new, licensed varieties is also
vital for both companies in order to regain
the investment made for all the breeding
efforts. After approval on the Variety List,
1/08 COURIER 15

This is HZPC
HZPC Holland B.V. came into being in 1999 through the merging of two large seed
potato export companies in the Netherlands: Hettema and De ZPC, each with more
than 100 years of experience behind them. The HZPC headquarters are located in
Joure (Friesland, Netherlands).
The core activities of HZPC are breeding, growing and selling seed potatoes.
HZPC is one of the world’s largest commercial enterprises in seed potatoes.
Approximately 620 seed potato growers - with a total acreage of almost 12,000
hectares - are affiliated to HZPC Holland. In recent years, total production has
varied from 330,000 to 400,000 tonnes of seed potatoes. Eighty to 90 percent of
this volume is destined for export. HZPC thus accounts for more than 40 percent
of the total Dutch seed potato export volume.
HZPC exports seed potatoes to 80 different countries. The company has subsidiaries
in Portugal, Spain, France, Poland, the United Kingdom, Canada, Argentina,
Russia and Scandinavia.
To support its core activity (seed potatoes), HZPC also deals in ware potatoes.
In this way HZPC’s protected potatoes are promoted within the supermarkets.
Gerard Backx, General Director of HZPC
Holland B.V.: “As a leading seed potatoproducing
country, we shall have to keep
up in terms of knowledge, quality and
modernization.”
farmers are growing it themselves. As a
result, the concept of license payments has
got lost to some extent. In order to chart
the seed potato routes – and thus the
license obligations – HZPC recently
opened an office in Argentina. For a number
of other countries, a license fee is
demanded when the seed potatoes are
purchased: the customer is then free to
grow the variety once or twice.
Of all the seed potatoes that HZPC and Agrico sell, 75 to 85 percent is destined for export. About half are
transported to their destination by ship.
a breeder’s rights (license) to a variety
remain valid for 30 years. “We therefore
have to make the maximum profit from a
variety during that period,” is how HZPC
Director Backx summarizes an important
aim of the company. Varieties such as
Spunta and Desirée – which can be grown
freely because the license period has
expired – have thus gained two faces. “On
the one hand, they are an excellent way of
displaying our achievements of the past;
but on the other hand, they no longer bring
in any license payments, and they sometimes
inhibit the breakthrough of new
varieties,” is how Backx describes the
sometimes tricky situation.
Payment is not always a matter of course
In addition to the dilemma of the older varieties
that sometimes sit in the way, the
payment of the license fees is sometimes
an awkward point. Of the 80 countries to
which they export, there is ‘a handful’
that do not take licenses very seriously,
according to Backx. In one particular case,
it is unwillingness; but more often it is a
question of inadequate administration or
organization. As an example, Backx mentions
Argentina, where the French fries
variety Innovator has made a considerable
breakthrough in recent years. Initially, the
variety was only grown by the industry.
But now that the variety has proven itself,
Licenses vital in order to pay for
breeding work
According to Agrico Director Van Hoogen,
it is not only distant countries that cause
problems with license payments. Cases are
also sometimes brought against growers in
Belgium, France, Germany and the United
Kingdom who do not take licenses seriously.
An awkward point here is that although
these countries respect the license legislation,
a lot of negotiations are still ongoing
about the precise method of payment. “As
a result, Agrico misses out on many millions
of Euros per year. And we need that
money to offset the breeding costs.”
Diseases
In the area of diseases and infestations, the
prevention and/or control of the Erwinia
bacterium (cause of black leg and stalk
rot) will continue to be a major challenge.
Despite the numerous efforts that have
been made in research and cultivation in
recent years, the problem is still increasing.
Van Hoogen anticipates that the
Netherlands is not yet free of the bacterial
problem. “You can’t do anything to combat
16 COURIER 1/08

This is Agrico
Agrico is a co-operative organization of approximately 1000 potato growers.
Together, they produce about 600,000 tonnes of seed potatoes and ware
potatoes each year that are marketed by Agrico itself.
Agrico has a large number of subsidiaries, including its own packing company for
ware potatoes, its own breeding and research operation, and many test fields in
the Netherlands and abroad. All activities are managed from the Head Office in
Emmeloord (Fl.).
Agrico has its own sales offices in France, Italy, the United Kingdom, Hungary, the
Czech Republic and Canada. In addition, it has representatives in almost all seed
potato-importing countries. Agrico exports seed potatoes to more than 80 different
countries.
Jan van Hoogen, Commercial Director of
Agrico: “The art is therefore to remain in discussion
with all parties in the chain, so that
you can provide them as well as possible with
varieties that possess the desired qualities”.
With an area of approx. 36,000 hectares under cultivation, the Netherlands accounts for about 40 percent of
the total Western European seed potato acreage.
it with breeding work, because there are no
resistances to bacterial disease. And as far
as cultivation measures are concerned, we
still know too little to enable us to tackle
the problem effectively.” In addition, he
anticipates that the increasingly capricious
weather will exacerbate the problem of
bacterial diseases.
Erwinia bacteria being tackled
on many fronts
Backx is somewhat less sombre about the
bacterial threat. Although he does not wish
to trivialize the problem, he says that competitor
countries such as France, Scotland
and Germany are experiencing it to exactly
the same extent. “It is therefore not just
a problem for the Netherlands but for all
seed potato-producing countries.” Backx
anticipates that definite solutions will
come, even though they are not actually in
view at the present time. “I remember well
the problems with brown rot and ring rot a
few years ago. We thought that we would
never get them under control either. But
neither of them has been found in recent
years. I therefore anticipate that in time we
shall be able to overcome bacterial disease,
too.” According to the HZPC Director,
first research results indicate that agricultural
hygiene and contamination (via harvesting
machines) play an important role
in the spread of Erwinia. “Growers therefore
have an opportunity to tackle the
problem.” He also states that the Dutch
general inspection service for agricultural
seeds and seed potatoes (NAK) is at present
advising on changes in the inspection
system to counter bacterial disease. “We are
thus tackling the problem on many fronts.
Sooner or later that must lead to success.”
Knowledge
In order to remain leaders in the cultivation
of seed potatoes, knowledge is the main
thing you need. The two company directors
readily agree on this. Backx says that in
recent years, there has been a strict selection
of seed potato growers by HZPC. He
estimates that, as a result, the number of
growers engaged has fallen by approximately
40 percent since 2000. The company
has looked not only at the farm’s technical
conditions for being able to grow
good seed potatoes (such as good soil and
the availability of fresh water), but also at
the grower’s knowledge and management
qualities. “I can state that knowledge and
good management determine more than
seventy percent of the success. Anyone
who wants to survive in seed potato cultivation
in the future must have these.”
Backx emphasizes that success does not
depend on acreage per se. “We have many
growers in our pool who have 30 to 40
hectares and who do excellently – both
technically and financially. This is because
they are experts and have their operation
well under control. But if they want to increase
to 80 or 90 hectares of crop, they
must delegate work and have management
qualities. And that is often a difficult point.
Not everybody has the skill to delegate
responsibilities. And that has to be done,
because it is impossible to oversee such a
large acreage alone.”
‘Large growers know how to apply their
knowledge’
According to Agrico Director Van Hoogen,
scaling-up in seed potato cultivation is
inevitable, just as in other crops. He anticipates
that in ten years’ time, only about
400 of the current 600 Agrico growers will
remain, with approximately the same
acreage (12,000 hectares). In contrast to
his colleague Backx, he is not worried
about the management qualities of the
survivors. “The larger growers know perfectly
well how to accumulate and apply
their knowledge. And with the ever higher
level of education of the younger guard,
I expect that this situation will continue to
get better.” ■
Written by: Han Hammink
1/08 COURIER 17

Phytophthora
infestans
is becoming increasingly
aggressive
The fungal pathogen Phytophthora infestans is increasing its hold
on potato crops in Europe. In recent years, a wide range of new
pathotypes has emerged through generative (sexual) reproduction,
allowing the disease to become more aggressive and more
damaging. This is clear from data collected by Euroblight, the
European knowledge network for Phytophthora infestans. Potato
researcher and Phytophthora specialist Dr. Ir. Huub Schepers of the
PPO Research Centre in Lelystad (NL) outlines the development of
the disease and indicates how it can be controlled.
At the beginning of the 1970s, only one
mating type (A1) of Phytophthora infestans
was present in Europe. This meant
that the pathogen could only reproduce
asexually (vegetatively) at that time. The
life-cycle was therefore quite stable and
predictable, so it was relatively easy to
control the disease effectively. This situation
changed when, halfway through the
1970s, a second mating type (A2)
entered Europe from Mexico, allowing the
fungus to start reproducing sexually (A1 x
A2) as well. Initially, type A2 was found
locally, mainly in the Netherlands and
Scandinavia: but by now, in 2008, both
18 COURIER 1/08

“Phytophthora
infestans will
continue to adapt
more rapidly in the
coming years. We
must therefore
outsmart the
pathogen and
attack it in all
possible ways.”
Huub Schepers
mating types are endemic throughout
Europe.
Oospores (which develop via sexual
reproduction) are now found in virtually
all Western and Northern European countries.
In the Netherlands, 60 to 70 % of all
potato-growing areas have mixed populations
of A1 and A2, according to long-term
surveys by the PPO Research Centre. Early
infection caused by oospores occurs mainly
in lighter soils and areas with very short
rotations. This applies particularly to the
North-East of the Netherlands, where
starch potato cultivation is concentrated.
In the period 1999 – 2005, about 32 percent
of all early infections in that region
appeared to be caused by oospores.
Oospores are a considerable
threat
Sexual reproduction via oospores is a serious
threat for potato cultivation, because it
provides for greater variation in the
pathogen population. Laboratory tests and
field studies have shown that the sexuallyreproducing
populations can be considerably
more aggressive than their asexual
predecessors. Research has shown that
the new, mixed populations adapt more
rapidly to temperatures that are normally
unfavourable for Phytophthora; the
pathogen used to be inviable at temperatures
below 10°C and above 25°C, but
this is not the case for the new variants.
Newly-collected isolates are also often
able to survive better on the tuber, as they
tend to damage the tuber less severely: the
tuber rots less rapidly, and is consequently
less easy to sort out on the basis of external
symptoms.
The new population also has a considerably
shorter latent period, meaning that
the life-cycle of Phytophthora infestans
can be completed more rapidly than
before. This, in turn, allows the fungus to
adapt more rapidly through sexual reproduction.
Under favourable conditions, two
generations a week are now possible, compared
with one generation before. It is thus
important to have short intervals in the
spraying programme in areas where
oospores are being formed.
Further threats presented by the new,
mixed populations include the fact that
they often have high spore production
rates, and can break through varietal genetic
resistance more easily. In addition, they
have a broader range of host plants compared
with the ‘old’ Phytophthora: for
example, it is known that the new mixed
populations can also infect green night-
Phytophthora infestans – symptoms
If “Phytophthora-weather“ prevails,
potato tubers can be infected as soon
as they are formed in the middle of
the season.
Above-ground parts of the plant must be
adequately protected right from the start,
in order to prevent inoculum from being
washed down into the soil.
Severe infection of foliage leads to
significant yield losses.
1/08 COURIER 19

Life cycle of Phytophthora infestans
Sporangia
release zoospores
Movement of zoospores on
the leaf surface
Sporangium
Infected tubers
as an inoculum
source for primary
infections
Direct
germination
of sporangia
Zoospores
encyst and
germinate
Mycelial growth
Infection of tubers
via sporangia
Formation of a sporangial lawn
on the underside of the leaf.
shade (Solanum sarrachoides) and rocket
leaf (dense-thorn bitter apple Solanum
sisymbriifolium), which can then act as
host plants for inoculum.
More action against
Phytophthora necessary
Keeping Phytophthora infestans under
control will require more vigilance and
action towards prevention and eradication
than before, says Schepers. He emphasises
that prevention always begins with the
elimination of sources of early infection,
for example by covering cull piles early on,
and by removing volunteer plants. Moreover,
early foci of Phytophthora infection
must be suppressed as rapidly as possible.
In the Netherlands, a system of presenting
farmers with yellow and red cards has been
in use for several years to encourage this:
potato growers who do not have their
cull piles covered by April 15 are given a
yellow card; the same applies to growers
with many volunteer plants in their fields,
and to growers who do not control the
early foci, or do so only inadequately. If
the growers have not acted within 3 days
of receiving the yellow card, the consequences
are a red card and a fine.
A second factor that can curb the
disease is extended crop rotation. Research
has shown that oospores can survive in the
soil for 3 to 4 years. If a second crop of
potatoes is grown within this period (or if
volunteer plants are allowed to grow on
the same plot of land), early infection can
develop from oospores.
Choice of variety is a further important
factor in keeping Phytophthora in check.
Infection occurs considerably less rapidly
in highly-resistant varieties. With regard to
crop protection, the spraying strategy must
be tightened up where mixed populations
are present, in order to counter the increased
risk of infection. Among other
things, this can mean starting spraying
earlier, with shorter intervals between
applications, so that the pathogen has less
chance to develop. In addition, where there
is high disease pressure, more attention
will have to be paid to combining different
active substances (modes of action) than
is the case at present. Schepers draws
attention to the critical issue that active
substances increasingly have a limited
number of applications. “With the more
aggressive Phytophthora being present,
greater knowledge is needed in order to
develop a watertight strategy.” ■
Written by: Han Hammink
20 COURIER 1/08

New combination of active
substances against potato blight
The new Infinito ® has already established itself in the
market as a highly-effective potato fungicide – within
only a few years of its introduction. The first registrations
were obtained in 2006; in the meantime, Infinito can be
used to control potato late blight (Phytophthora infestans)
in nearly twenty countries. The latest registration was
granted in Japan at the beginning of 2008. The product
will be marketed there under the trade name Reliable ® .
Bad news for potato blight, but good news for Infinito:
in the last few years, the product has been able to demonstrate
its strength in controlling the disease on aboveground
parts and tubers, thereby protecting the entire potato
plant. To achieve this, it draws on the combination of
two highly effective active substances: propamocarb-HCl
und fluopicolide.
Fluopicolide is a new active substance from Bayer
CropScience’s Research Unit. It has a unique mode of action
that leads to a rapid destabilisation of fungal cells.
Products based on this innovative active substance stand
out by virtue of the long-term, consistently high level of
protection they provide to crops, as well as through their
favourable environmental profile.
Fluopicolide’s new mode of action
Fluopicolide acts by disrupting the pathogen’s cell structure.
It inhibits the formation of spectrin-like proteins that
are assumed to play an important role in the stabilisation
of the pathogen’s cells. This unique mode of action is
effective against all of the most critical stages of the
pathogen’s life-cycle. However, fluopicolide’s main target
is the zoospore stage: the spores stop moving within seconds
of coming into contact with the active substance;
then they swell-up, and, eventually, burst. Fluopicolide
also reduces sporulation and suppresses the growth of
fungal mycelia within plant tissues. Moreover, it inhibits
both direct and indirect sporangial germination.
Fluopicolide’s partner in Infinito is the time-tested
active substance propamocarb-HCl, which has been on
the market for 30 years now. Propamocarb-HCl influences
fatty acid synthesis, so it has a completely different mode
of action from fluopicolide. The two active substances
complement each other very well to provide the effective,
long-term protection that Infinito affords. Both possess
systemic and trans-laminar distribution properties. Active
substance taken up by the stem is thus transported to other
parts of the plant, which means that newly-grown plant
tissues can also be protected from infection. ■
Late blight: the thread-like mycelium of the pathogen
Phytophthora infestans has formed a network within
the tissues of the potato plant. The Bayer active substance
fluopicolide is particularly active against the zoospores
(contained in the capsules at the ends of the mycelial threads)
that help the late blight pathogen to spread.
1/08 COURIER 21

Colorado potato beetle
and aphids – threatening,
but manageable
A threat to potato crops throughout
the world: the Colorado potato beetle
(Leptinotarsa decemlineata)
Along with leaf diseases, pests represent a serious risk
for potato growers around the world: they can reduce
tuber quality significantly, and, at worst, they can destroy
entire harvests – that is, if they aren’t stopped in time.
The danger can be managed through preventative
measures and with the aid of effective Bayer products
such as Biscaya ® and Proteus ® .
22 COURIER 1/08

From yield reduction to total yield
loss – pests such as the Colorado potato
beetle (Leptinotarsa decemlineata) and
aphids (e.g. Myzus persicae, Aulacorthum
solani, Macrosiphum euphorbiae), cicadas,
thrips, nematodes and potato moths are endemic
– and threatening – in almost all of
the traditional areas of potato cultivation.
The Colorado potato beetle and its larvae,
with their almost insatiable appetites, can
eat continuously and are capable of laying
waste to entire fields. In contrast, aphids
do not cause damage directly through their
feeding, but rather as so-called vectors of
viruses which they can transfer every time
they probe a plant with their proboscis. In
Europe alone, 20 virus types are recognised
– the potato leaf roll virus (PLRV),
potato virus Y (PVY) and X (PVX) are the
most important economically. The symptoms
of virus infection range from leaf
deformation and necroses through to
growth suppression and damage to the
tuber. Producers of seed potatoes must be
especially careful to prevent infection:
seed potatoes that carry viruses cannot be
certified for selling or sowing.
Safeguarding the
harvest is essential
“The potato is an expensive crop. Intensive
cultivation in Central Europe involves the
grower investing up to 3,000 Euro per
hectare“, says Bayer CropScience expert
Dr. Hartwig Dauck (Global Insecticides
Manager for potato). This sum covers the
costs for machinery, energy, work, soil,
seed, crop protection and fertilizing. He
continues: “If you want to avoid putting
this considerable investment at risk, you
have to keep an eye on pest insects right
from the start.“ Preventative measures are
urgently recommended, although their
influence on infection levels is limited. The
virus threat can be reduced by growing resistant
varieties in areas that are relatively
free of vectors, and long-term rotations can
also reduce the risk. But seasonal weather
is beyond the farmer’s control – if it is
favourable for the pests, then they will be
present in the field in larger numbers. This
is why it is essential to take steps to safeguard
yield and quality by applying the
right tools at the right time.
Consider damage thresholds
Damage thresholds are important considerations
in deciding on exactly the right
time to intervene: they indicate which
level of infestation can be tolerated
from an economic point
of view. Applying
Potato aphid (Macrosiphum solanifolii)
An overview of product
strengths:
Biscaya ® :
• Highly systemic insecticide with
long-term efficacy
• Active against sucking and biting
insects
• Pests living within the plant are
effectively controlled
• O-TEQ-formulation: rapid uptake,
increased rainfastness
• Can also be used at higher
temperatures
• Favourable profile towards the
environment and beneficials –
safe for bees
Proteus ® :
• Combination of active substances
with both systemic properties
and contact activity; more rapid
knock-down effect, but also longterm
activity
• Broad-spectrum activity against
sucking and biting insects
(including the potato moth)
• O-TEQ-formulation: rapid uptake,
increased rainfastness
control measures only makes sense if the
yield losses the pest is expected to cause
exceed the costs of protecting the yield
against the pest. Damage thresholds vary
from country to country – they also depend
on how the potatoes are to be used after
harvest. “In the United Kingdom, the first
aphid-control treatment in food and starch
potatoes is recommended as soon as the
aphid count reaches three to five per leaf.
If the number of aphids caught in traps
rises rapidly, reflecting a strong increase in
the population, it’s a first warning signal“,
says Dr. Dauck. “But seed potato growers
must take action as soon as the first aphid
is seen, otherwise they risk the virus-free
status – and thus the certification – of their
crop“. Depending on the region and local
climatic conditions, food potatoes need up
to four sprays and seed potatoes as many as
twelve sprays to cover the entire cultivation
period.
There are also strict requirements with
regard to the Colorado potato beetle: in the
Netherlands for example – where farmers
are actually legally obliged to control the
pest – treatment must start as soon as the
first larva has been found.
1/08 COURIER 23

“Wanted poster“
for the Colorado potato beetle (Leptinotarsa decemlineata):
The Colorado potato beetle overwinters in soil. It is 10 to 12 mm in length, with
orange to yellow and black stripes. Infestation can occur as soon as potato plants
emerge, with the beetle eating the young leaves. After mating, the female beetle
lays orange-coloured eggs in groups of 12 to 25 on the leaf under-surface.
The 15 mm-long, reddish-coloured larvae emerge and feed on the potato leaves.
Eventually, they form pupae in the soil from which young adult beetles emerge
after about 14 days.
In cooler climates, there is only one generation of beetles per year. But under
optimal temperatures (25 to 33 degrees Celsius), up to four generations can occur.
The Colorado potato beetle is easy to recognise by virtue of its size and colouration.
When the potato plant is shaken, the beetles allow themselves to fall off. In
this way, otherwise hidden specimens can be seen.
The beetle was first
recognised in North
America at the
beginning of the 19th
century and has
become widely distributed
in the meanwhile.
During the 20th
century, it made its
way throughout
Europe towards the
East and has now
reached China.
“Wanted poster“
for the green peach aphid
(Myzus persicae):
The eggs overwinter on peach trees.
The larvae emerge in the spring:
Then, over a period of several weeks,
they develop into winged or wingless
adults. The winged aphids fly to their
summer hosts, including the potato.
They feed on the plant, but cause
more damage by transferring viruses
(including the persistent leaf roll
virus).
The aphid has an oval body, 1.2 to
2.1 mm long, which is light to dark
green, pink or reddish-coloured.
Winged specimens have a characteristic
black mark on the abdomen.
Between 10 and 25 generations can
occur per year.
Originating in Asia, this aphid is now
found in all areas of potato cultivation
around the world.
Alternating active
substance classes
Over the years, a number of crop protection
products have been used successfully
against Colorado potato beetle, aphids and
other pests, mainly from the organophosphate
and pyrethroid classes of active substance.
Now, innovative products from the
chloronicotinyl (CNI) class are becoming
increasingly predominant. Bayer products
such as Calypso ® and Biscaya (thiacloprid),
Confidor ® (imidacloprid) and Monceren ®
G (imidacloprid plus the fungicide pencycuron)
belong to this class. Their major
advantage compared with the organophosphates:
they are both user- and environment-friendlier.
Moreover, hardly any
resistance to them has arisen in the pest
populations that confront potato crops. To
provide over all protection during the early
growth phases, Monceren ® G, with the
systemic active substance imidacloprid, is
sprayed onto potatoes at the time of sowing
to protect them for several weeks against
aphids and early infestation by Colorado
potato beetle. However, the pests can
appear throughout the entire growing
period. If they go on to reach damage
threshold levels, Biscaya is available to the
farmer as a novel, effective insecticide for
foliar application.
Biscaya – with an
innovative formulation
“Biscaya was introduced into practice with
great success in 2007“, reports Julia van
Bömmel (Product Manager for Biscaya).
“With its active substance thiacloprid, it is
making a significant contribution to offsetting
the Colorado potato beetle resistance
threat.“ This will bring a lot of relief to
growers in countries such as Germany and
Poland, who are increasingly affected by
the resistance problem.
The new Biscaya also offers further advantages:
a glance at the product description
will show that Biscaya has a
favourable profile with regard to beneficial
insects and the environment. The product’s
safety to bees means that it is also suited
for use during flowering-time.
24 COURIER 1/08

Moreover, Biscaya benefits from innovative
formulation technology, the socalled
O-TEQ-formulation. Julia van
Bömmel explains the principle as follows:
“Our formulation experts have mixed the
active substance with additives and plantderived
oils to form a stable oil dispersion.
The formulation is free of solvents and
thus environmentally compatible.“ The
formulation brings three advantages: “The
spray solution is retained better by leaves;
it is more evenly distributed over the leaf
surface; and, most importantly, the
active substance is taken up more quickly
by the plant.“ This is a particularly strong
advantage when weather conditions are
unfavourable. And it is another impressive
demonstration that the properties of a
product are not determined by the active
substance alone.
Biscaya excels by virtue of its long-lasting
efficacy. “It is distributed throughout
the plant and is able to work systemically.
At higher temperatures, it has an advantage
over the pyrethroids.“ according to Julia
van Bömmel. The product also scores
highly in terms of user friendliness, and
through the fact that only small buffer
zones to water bodies are necessary.
Proteus – broad protection
Another product formulated according to
the principles of O-TEQ technology is
Proteus (introduction in the Netherlands
planned as “Ferito ® “), which was first
introduced in Rumania in 2005 and has
received registrations in numerous other
countries since then. In contrast to Biscaya,
Proteus has been developed by Bayer
crop protection experts to combine active
substances from two classes (chloronico ti -
nyl and pyrethroids). This combination allows
farmers in regions without pyre throid
resistance to achieve broad-spectrum control.
The active substance deltamethrin
gives the product a rapid knock-down activity,
while the chloronicotinyl constituent
thiacloprid ensures long-term control.
“The product is therefore ideally suited for
use in seed potatoes”, concludes Product
Manager van Bömmel. What’s important
here is to eliminate virus-carrying aphids
as quickly as possible, which is something
that’s easier to achieve because of the
favourable properties of Proteus’ O-TEQ
formulation.
Avoiding resistance
The fewer the active substance classes that
are available to control a pest, and the
higher the number of treatments needed
to achieve control, the greater the risk that
resistance will develop. Resistant aphids
are no longer a rarity in some European
countries. The situation is similar for the
Colorado beetle. “The current choice of
available active substance classes is relatively
limited. If the very same product is
applied six to eight times in succession,
then it is inevitable that even an extremely
effective product will eventually lose its
efficacy through resistance development”,
notes Julia van Bömmel. Farmers should
keep the damage thresholds in mind, apply
products at the recommended dose and
alternate between chemical classes. “We
must take care of the available products –
and this includes Biscaya and
Proteus. We want the farmer to be able to
benefit from their advantages for as long
as possible” is Julia van Bömmel’s appeal
to advisors and users.
Detailed information on the appropriate
spray sequences and damage thresholds
can be obtained by contacting Bayer
CropScience’s local organisation in your
country. ■
Full range of Bayer CropScience insecticides in potatoes
Mesurol
Slugs
Decis, (Tamaron)
Lepidoptera
Leafminer Fly
Temik, Mocap
Soil insects,
Nematodes
Prestige
Seed
Treatment
Decis, Regent, Confidor, Biscaya, Proteus, (Tamaron)
Beetles, Weevils
Whitefly, Jassids
Aphids
Seeding Sprouting Leaf development Crop cover Flowering Tuber ripening
Please follow the locally approved product label before use. If you have any further questions please contact your local country organization of Bayer CropScience.
1/08 COURIER 25

Potatoes…
from Peru
to the world
The debate concerning the origin of
the potato (Solanum tuberosum) is nearing
its end. Using genetic analyses of wild species
and native Andean crops, David
M. Spooner, a botanist at the University of
Wisconsin, has reached the conclusion that
the potato has a single point of origin: to
the north of Lake Titicaca, in the Andean
plateau of southern Peru.
Researchers from the International Potato
Centre (Centro Internacional de la
Papa - CIP), headquartered in Lima, Peru,
including Dr Alberto Salas, an agronomist
from the Biodiversity Complex and
Dr Marc Ghislain, a molecular biologist,
have conducted thorough morphological
and molecular studies, reaching the same
conclusion as Dr Spooner.
Archaeologists have even determined that
the ancient Peruvians consumed potatoes
26 COURIER 1/08

as far back as 7,000 years ago, when they
were found growing wild in the vicinity of
Lake Titicaca.
With the sole origin of the potato having
been scientifically determined, studies of
its spread to other countries are also of
some interest. It was being grown in Peru
by around the 8th century BC and, according
to chronicler Pedro Cieza de León, a
contemporary of explorer Francisco
Pizarro, the potato was taken to Spain
in 1554 from where it spread throughout
Europe. It reached India in 1610 and
China in 1700.
Worldwide importance
As specified by the FAO, potatoes are of
decisive importance in the diets of hundreds
of millions of people worldwide, and
The potato, with its many different varieties, is a basic
food crop for people in the Peruvian Andes. Peru is
the country in which the genetic diversity of potato
varieties is greatest.
Left: harvesting native potatoes at 4,000 metres
above sea level.
their annual consumption has increased
from under 10 kg per capita in the early
sixties to 21 kg today.
Annual potato production is currently
over 300 million tonnes and billions of
people over the world consume this much
appreciated tuber from the Peruvian
Andes. In this regard, the FAO maintains
that, since the early 60s, the surface area
taken up by potato crops in the developing
world, particularly China and India, has
exceeded that of all other basic foodstuffs,
with the demand in 2020 expected to be
double that of 1993.
Indeed, nowadays there are no countries
where potatoes are not grown. China,
Russia, India, the United States, Ukraine,
Poland and Germany are the leading
producers.
However, although potatoes have played
a fundamental role in relieving hunger on
the planet, they have also been the cause of
famines. From 1845 to 1848, four million
people in Ireland died from hunger and
malnutrition because of Phytophthora
infestans, a terrible disease known as
potato blight, which destroyed all the
country’s crops.
Hub of the potato universe
Peru grows eight native potato species and
2,300 of the nearly 5,000 current potato
varieties. It is also home to 90 of the 200
wild species growing on the American
continent, making it the country with the
greatest potato diversity in the world.
The commercial varieties of potato found
in Peru have curious names: Tomasa,
Canchán, Amarilla, Colorada, Criolla,
Tarmeña, Huamantanga, Peruanita, Perricholi,
etc.
One thing is clear: the potato, with all
its different varieties, is a fundamental food
crop for people in the Peruvian Andes.
The potato is so important for feeding
the world, that the United Nations General
Assembly has declared 2008 the “Inter -
national Year of the Potato”, justly
acknowledging a crop which, although of
local Andean origin and nature, is now part
of our food heritage on a universal scale.
This is the perfect occasion for attention
to be paid to the potato by governments
and the authorities involved in world food
security and for Peru, as its source of
origin, to assume leadership in fostering
its worldwide growth and consumption.
Indeed, the efforts made to promote the
implantation and productivity of this crop,
together with its post-harvesting management
and consumption, will be most
welcome.
In this regard, Peru is privileged to
house the headquarters of the International
Potato Centre, the home of the most comprehensive
genetic bank in the world,
where highly qualified scientists from
Asia, Africa, Europe, America and
Oceania dedicate their lives to investigating
production systems, natural resource
management and crop and genetic resource
enhancement and to preserving and
protecting genetic material related to the
potato and other tubers.
Equally important is the research conducted
at the centre relating to pests and
diseases, use and processing methods, seed
production and potato-related statistics.
A Peruvian project, T´ikapapa, recently
won the first prize in The World Challenge
2007 competition from among 940 other
projects. The contest, sponsored by the
BBC and Newsweek magazine, seeks out
development projects and businesses that
not only make a profit but also put something
back into the community. Making a
difference through enterprise and innovation
at a grass roots level is also a key
requirement.
T´ikapapa is a social marketing concept
enabling resource-poor farmers from the
Peruvian Andes to market their distinctly
labelled native potato crops in Lima’s
supermarkets.
Bayer CropScience in Peru
Bayer CropScience has been supporting
these century-old crops in Peru for many
years, with a broad range of high quality
products including fungicides such as
Antracol ® and Fitoraz ® , insecticides such
as Regent ® , Bulldock ® and Alsystin ® and
herbicides such as Sencor ® .
Launches of new solutions are also
being prepared for the future, including a
new portfolio for controlling potato blight
with fungicides such as Sectin ® /Sereno ® ,
Consento ® , Infinito ® and Trivia ® .
All these products also form part of a
campaign to teach farmers how to safely
manage and use crop protection products,
together with application techniques. Run
through the Agrovida ® programme and
Integrated Crop Management at farming
schools, it ensures healthy crops with eco -
nomic profits.
We are faced, then, with a fact and an
opportunity. The fact is the ancestral origin
of the potato, its diversity and its universal
importance. And the opportunity to reinforce
its importance as a foodstuff, enhance
its production and increase its consumption
is provided by the “Inter national Year
of the Potato”. ■
Written by:
Fernando Cillóniz Benavides,
Manuel A. Cueva, Javier A. Chávarro
1/08 COURIER 27

Potato starch – a
versatile commodity
The potato is the world’s fourth most important
food plant – after rice, wheat and maize.
But that’s not all: the tuber’s starch content
also makes the modest spud an extremely
versatile and sustainable raw material.
French fries, potato pancakes, fried potatoes
– the potato seems to have an endless
number of uses in the kitchen. Following
its discovery in South America by Spanish
colonialists in the 16th century, the potato
plant Solanum tuberosum (from the
Solanaceae family) spread around the
globe. However, the indigenous people of
South America had already recognised the
value of the potato several thousand years
earlier. Today, the potato is the number one
staple food for more than a billion people,
thanks to its excellent nutritional properties –
reason enough for the United Nations to
declare 2008 the “International Year of the
Potato“. But the famous spud can do a lot
more than just feed people. The potato’s
starch content makes it an important sustainable
raw material. It delivers the highest
yield of starch per cultivated hectare (6.5
tonnes - compared with 3 tonnes and 4.5
tonnes for wheat and maize, respectively).
Europe in the lead
According to figures from the Food and
Agricultural Organisation of the United
Nations (FAO), approximately 314 million
tonnes of potatoes were harvested around
the world in 2006. More than two-thirds of
the harvest were used for human sustenance.
The rest was used for industrial
uses, as animal feed, or as seed. There are
no detailed data for the extent to which
potatoes are used for non-nutritional purposes
in the various regions of the world,
but the figures for the nutritional use of
potatoes at least give an indication: the
proportion is considerably higher in Africa,
28 COURIER 1/08

Starch – an impressively versatile commodity
Paper- and cardboard manufacture: Starch improves the technical properties (e.g. it increases the paper’s
firmness).
Biotechnological raw material: Starch provides a substrate for growing the micro-organisms that generate
useful end-products (e.g. vitamins, citric acid) through their metabolism.
Textile industry: Starch ethers give yarns abrasion-resistance and smoothness. Swelling starch improves the
product’s look and feel.
Pastes and glues: Starches (e.g. swelling starch and starch ethers) are the basic raw materials.
Pharmaceuticals and cosmetics: Use in powders, toothpaste and creams. Modified starches, used as additives
in tablets, help them to dissolve in the body.
Detergents: Starch is a starting material for biologically-degradeable sugar detergents.
Biologically-degradeable materials: Starch is the raw material for plastic-like materials.
1/08 COURIER 29

Some examples of the use of starch as a renewable raw material (from left to right):
Wallpaper paste
Carrier bags
(Photo: novamont)
America and Asia than in Europe. The production
of potato starch for non-nutritional
purposes is predominantly an activity of
Western European nations (although Asia
also uses a smaller amount of potato starch
for industrial purposes).
Each year, more than 9 million tonnes
starch are produced in the European
Union, of which around a fifth derives
from potatoes and the rest from maize and
wheat. Potato starch production in the EU
is fixed by quotas: the total amount is almost
2 million tonnes, of which the largest
share goes to Germany (656,000 tonnes),
followed by the Netherlands (507,000
tonnes) and France (265,000 tonnes). More
than 40% of the starch produced in the
Community is used for non-food purposes.
Native potato starch shows a higher
viscosity than starch from wheat or maize.
It possesses good water-uptake and
swelling properties, as well as low thermal
and electrical conductivity. Its chemical
make-up comprises the carbohydrates
amylose and amylopectin, each of which is
suited to its own set of purposes, although
for most uses, the branched amylopectin
molecule is a more valuable starting material
than the linear amylose. The average
ratio of amylose to amylopectin in potato
starch lies between 1:4 and 1:5.
Late varieties preferred
For starch production, simple late-ripening
potato varieties are preferred. Around 400
varieties of this type exist around the
world. Their starch content of 17 to 20% is
markedly higher than that of food potatoes
(around 10%). On arriving at the starch
factory, the tubers are first washed to
remove any earth still sticking to them.
Next, they are rasped and processed to produce
a slurry, from which the potato starch
is separated and dried in a succession of
steps. The result is a highly pure native
starch with a moisture content of around
20%. A side-product of this process is
potato pulp, which can be returned to the
agricultural production cycle in the form
of protein-rich animal feed.
From glue to fuel
The potato starch is processed further to
produce raw materials for the paper, chemical,
pharmaceutical and textile industries.
The feel, smoothness and shine of the
paper that brings this “Courier“ article to
you could well be attributable to materials
from processed potato starch. Adhesives
derived from potato starch are also valued
in medicine, because they are entirely free of
health concerns: that’s why such adhesives
are found in plasters and dressings. And
many a stamp remains stuck to a holi day
postcard thanks to starch and water.
Potato starches can also be processed
into films, carrier bags, disposable cutlery
and packaging materials. These bio-materials
can replace petroleum oil-based products;
they are capable of being sprayed,
formed or expanded into various shapes
and containers. For example, your last
tee-off at golf may well have been done
from a starch-based tee. Bioplastics would
be especially valuable in restricting the use
of mineral oils and reducing waste if they
were to be used more widely in short-lived
products such as food-packaging, carrier
bags, rubbish sacks and plant pots.
Depending on how they are formulated,
materials based on plant starches are biologically
degradable; composting them
brings the starches back into the production
cycle. At present, the worldwide
capacity for producing bioplastics is less
30 COURIER 1/08

Compostable plates and saucers
Toys (Photos: Kompetenzzentrum für Nachwachsende Rohstoffe,
KoWaRo, Germany)
than 100,000 tonnes a year; however, the
European Bioplastics Association forecasts
a rapid increase in capacity, with
world-wide production exceeding 1.5 million
tonnes by 2011, not least because of
high oil prices and the question of climate
change. In countries such as France, Italy
and Australia, there is a political will to
introduce biologically-degradable carrier
bags. Experts predict that with today’s
technologies, biomaterials would be able
to replace 1 to 2 million tonnes-worth of
mineral oil-derived disposable plastics, so
long as worldwide production capacity
increases correspondingly. This will of
course mean greater demand for potato
starch.
But the industrial application of starches
from spuds is certainly not limited to
these uses. Potato starches are also used to
produce bio-surfactants that can replace
synthetic detergents in washing powders,
soaps and shampoos. And let’s not forget
that potato starch can be fermented and
distilled into bioethanol, which is being
mixed with conventional petrol in a number
of industrial countries. It is even economically
worthwhile to produce biofuels
from the peelings that are a by-product
of the food industry. According to the
German (Bavarian) raw materials network
C.A.R.M.E.N., the long-term trend in the
use of starches lies in chemical and technical
applications.
In the future, biotechnology may improve
the efficiency with which renewable
raw materials are obtained from potatoes,
because gene technology can be used to
alter a variety’s starch profile. But Agrobiotechnology
will also help to protect the
potato plant from the numerous pests and
diseases that attack it. Given the growing
world population, this is an important task
– a hectare of potatoes not only has the
potential to produce the highest starch
yield for industrial uses; it could also be
used to produce food with two- to fourtimes
the nutritional yield of wheat, and
a higher nutritional contribution per unit
of water used than any other major crop
plant. ■
Written by: Norbert Lehmann
Did you know that the potato…
• was probably first cultivated more than 8,000 years ago, in the
Andean highlands near Lake Titicaca
• is grown today in more than 125 countries around the globe
• is related to aubergine, tomato and tobacco, but not to sweet potato
• is available in over 5.000 cultivars from more than 100 wild-types
• provided – with its tiny starch grains – the basis for the Lumière
brothers’ 1903 patent for a colour photography technique
• comprises up to 80 % water
• was the first vegetable to grow in space (onboard the Space Shuttle
Columbia, in 1995)
• is rich in vitamin C and essential minerals such as manganese,
selenium and molybdenum
• doesn’t absorb salt during cooking
1/08 COURIER 31

Nature and technology
Adhesives are common in nature. Paper
wasps collect wood fragments in order
to create the cellulose-based glue they use
to build their nests. Spiders cover the
threads of their webs with a thin layer of
sticky material that leaves their prey no
possibility of escape. Carnivorous plants of
the genus Drosera (sundew) catch insects
with glandular hairs (see picture) that
secrete a sticky fluid.
Mankind has been using adhesives for
thousands of years – initially without understanding
the principles of cohesion and
adhesion that underlie stickiness. Intermole -
cular cohesive forces hold the atoms and
molecules of a material together, whereas
adhesive forces determine the ability of two
different materials to stick to each other.
Today, the adhesive potential of natural
substances is exploited in many ways – for
example using casein (the milk protein of
ruminants) to stick labels onto glass bottles;
or starch from potatoes to produce corrugated
cardboard. ■
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