Potatoes… - Bayer CropScience

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,
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