Potato Review

NEWS Y – FOR ADDED PEACE OF MIND www.grimme.co.uk *Terms and conditions apply GRIMME PROTECT enables you to extend your original GRIMME warranty on a new machine for up to a total of 5 years* and it is available on used GRIMME machines too. ‘Significant change to crop management needed’ Manufacturer and tech company link up to measure crop emergence An agronomist has predicted that desiccation will pose the greatest challenge for growers this year and said they must begin planning the crop before it’s even sown. East Anglia-based Jack Hoyles annually advises on 800ha of potatoes covering South Lincolnshire, Cambridgeshire and Norfolk most of which is destined for the processing and pre-packed markets. He said: “2020 could be the toughest year yet. Ensuring customers still achieve industry targets such as market size, market dry matter and fry colour with an ever- decreasing number of chemicals will require significant agronomic changes to the way we currently manage the crop.” During the 2019 season, many growers still used diquat as part of their desiccation strategy. Jack says new trials have confirmed that both a “flail and spray” and chemical-only approach to burning down the crop over a longer period are both viable with advanced planning on canopy management. “Desiccation (with and without flailing) is viable as long as you can control canopy growth and I achieved excellent results last year using the two main stem desiccants; ALLSTAR manufacturer BASF has signed an agreement with remote sensing technology company Hummingbird Technologies to measure crop emergence and growth of potato crops in the field and in trial plots. Fixed wing and multirotor drones with multispectral and hyperspectral sensors will measure crop evenness plus canopy development in crops treated with ALLSTAR and every 3 to 5 days following initial crop emergence, it will provide plant counts, emergence and canopy data. Results will be shared with growers later in the season. BASF potato specialist, Paul Goddard, said: “An even crop is an easier crop to manage. It helps with applying herbicides and irrigation as well as burn-down strategies at the end of the season.” ALLSTAR is an SDHI fungicide for in- furrow treatment for Rhizoctonia solani in potatoes. Gozai (pyraflufen-ethyl) and carfentrazone- ethyl as part of a three to four spray program designed to achieve full desiccation. As Gozai has a 14 day harvest interval, it will be my first spray within the program sequence,” he said. Growers will also need to consider varieties carefully, particularly if reducing nitrogen rates to manipulate canopy growth in order to senesce the crop earlier and it is here that Jack sees some potential hurdles. “Employing a fertiliser strategy on long season varieties such as Markies (a variety that many of my chipper’s grow) could be problematic. Markies have 12-20 tubers per plant so if you cut back too heavily on fertiliser to control growth and then there’s a dry spell in spring you run the risk of not achieving market size by focusing too much on canopy size. “Variety selection is critical, but getting some luck with some warm dry summer weather to help senesce the crop naturally before harvest cannot be underestimated either,” Jack said. He said black bindweed had also become a big problem weed for many of his growers in recent years.