Potato Review

46 POTATO REVIEW NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2019 VARIETIES S eptember just wouldn’t be the same without the annual round of variety demonstrations when representatives of major seed suppliers rub shoulders with growers, packers, processors and produce buyers. With all the top breeders putting on a show of their latest hopefuls there is always pressure to provide an added attraction. ‘Next generation’ varieties Agrico UK chose to feature growing plots of seven ‘next generation’ varieties – salads, whites, parti-colours and reds – all of which had been picked out for The search for low input varieties We head to the Cambridgeshire fens to take a look at some of the latest o erings fromContinental potato breeders and their UKmarketing agents. their resistance to late blight, for their yield potential, taste and the promise of low inputs designed to appeal to both organic and conventional growers. Sales manager Alex Moore gave Potato Review a guided tour of the trials eld at Hundreds Farm, Crowland near Peterborough. “We have an organic trial at Duxford near Cambridge and one in Devon but what we’re trying to show here is that you can grow these varieties without having to spray for blight,’ he explained. ‘ e plots haven’t been treated at all whereas the commercial crop behind has been sprayed 10 times at a cost of around £400 an acre. We’re not just selling these varieties as organic but as next generation low-input crops,” he stressed. “You might not need to spray them at all or you may want to spray every two or three weeks but either way it’s a lot less cost to the grower.” Blight plots Alex Moore with Lugano BY DAVID MOSSMAN