Potato Review

4 POTATO REVIEW MARCH/APRIL 2021 NEWS Editor Stephanie Cornwall 01778 395055 stephanie.cornwall@warnersgroup.co.uk Multimedai Sales Executive eresa Geeson 01778 392046 theresag@warnersgroup.co.uk Publisher Juliet Loiselle 01778 391067 Julietl@warnersgroup.co.uk Design Amanda Calre Subscriptions 01778 392464 subscriptions@warnersgroup.co.uk Subscriptions & advertising copy Potato Review, Warners Group Publications, e Maltings, West Street, Bourne, PE10 9PH www.potatoreview.com ISSN 0961–7655 © AREMI Ltd 2018 e publishers are not necessarily in agreement with opinions expressed in this journal. No responsibility can be accepted for statements made by contributors or advertisers. POTATO REVIEW is published by: Warners Group Publications, e Maltings, West Street, Bourne, PE10 9PH Printed by Warners (Midlands) Plc Manor Lane, Bourne, Lincs. PE10 9PH January/February 2021 PRINTED BY WARNERS 01778 395111 New low-carb varieties developed TWO new potato varieties have been developed which its German breeders claim oer a lower- carbohydrate choice for consumers. Europlant, an internationally active trading company for seed potatoes, has come up with the mild, mainly firm-cooking Coronada, which is branded as Linella, and the firm- cooking Montana. The varieties were developed through selective breeding. The average relative energy content is at least 30 % reduced in relation to fixed standards. Both varieties are grown by specially selected, qualified farmers who are certified by German QS standards. Before grading and packing, every single lot is checked for its ingredients by neutral experts. Only if all legal requirements are met can a lot become part of its “lower carb” program. The Europlant Group distributes worldwide a total of about 250,000 tonnes of seed potatoes, 125,000 of which are on the German market. Opening the doors of potato pathogen perception NORWICH-Based research organisation, The Sainsbury Laboratory, has identified one of the best genes to oer lasting resistance to late potato blight. A research team led by Professor Jonathan Jones explored the diversity of resistance genes in a wide range of wild Solanum plants related to potato. They found Solanum americanum, the ancestor of the widespread UK wild plant Solanum nigrum (black nightshade) to be an excellent source of new resistance genes against late blight, with many dierent variants of the resistance gene Rpi- amr1 and its many variants enabling the plant to detect the same virulence proteins of late blight, aording protection from the disease. Late blight strains carry two related virulence proteins that are both recognized by most of the Rpi-amr1 variants. This is important because pathogens overcome resistance by losing or substantially modifying their virulence proteins through evolution. The chances of losing or modifying several virulence proteins at the same time is lower. Rpi-amr1 confers resistance against all of the 19 blight strains tested. In BBSRC-funded work, the Rpi-amr1 resistance gene is being combined with two other resistance genes, Rpi-amr3 and Rpi-vnt1, in the commercial potato Maris Piper. The resulting potato lines are immune to a very wide diversity of blight races. Kamil Witek, one of the lead researchers, said “It’s been a long, but really fun collaborative project with many great colleagues. I’m looking forward to seeing potatoes protected by S. americanum resistance genes on the supermarket shelves in the near future.” The Sainsbury Laboratory is an independent research institute that specialises in plant- microbe interactions and is funded by The Gatsby Charitable Foundation, The University of East Anglia and UKRI-BBSRC. 61% of growers say ‘No’ to statutory levy ALMOST two thirds of qualifying levy payers within the UK horticultural industry, voted against the statutory levy used to fund the AHDB in the o¢cial ballot. A separate ballot on the continuation of the statutory levy for potatoes is ongoing. Around 1,500 growers had voted against the levy. Farming Minister Victoria Prentis said: “We will now take these results and scrutinise them closely before making a decision on the future of the horticulture levy in due course.” Biostimulant partnership CORTEVA Agriscience and Dadelos Agrosolutions, SL have announced an agreement to develop, validate and commercialise biostimulants for growers. Dadelos Agrosolutions develops technologies on plant nutrition e¢ciency, plant metabolism and stress response. Corteva’s newly-created global biologicals portfolio is dedicated to developing biostimulants, biocontrol and pheromone products that works side-by- side with conventional crop protection solutions.