Potato Review

Decreased planting area PORTUGAL’S potato area for the forthcoming season is estimated at 15,000 hectares, 6.2% less than last year, according to the National Institute of Statistics. The irrigated area is 13,000 hectares (similar to last year), with the remaining 2,000 hectares of rain-fed land (25% less). Large-scale distribution THE dynamism of trade seems to be confirmed in the large-scale distribution circuit, according to the French potato inter-branch organization, CNIPT. The wholesale market is also improving, although the activity level remains below pre-COVID levels. As for exports, the market remains active and the regularity of flows to Eastern European countries is confirmed. Flows to Spain are likely to decrease as the early potato harvests progress. 50 POTATO REVIEW JULY/AUGUST 2022 INTERNATIONAL NEWS Food expert joins breeder’s supervisory board JEAN PIERRE Bienfait has been appointed as a new member of the potato breeder HZPC’s supervisory board. Jean-Pierre fills the vacancy of Meerten Ubbens. The seat term of Meerten Ubbens had expired in October 2021. Every year an AGM is held in May and October. Jean-Pierre is an experienced CEO and supervisory board member at international companies. His expertise is mainly in food retail/wholesale and also in emerging, more and less developed countries (especially in Asia) and organisations. He has worked extensively with HZPC in recent months. Founded in 1898, and rooted in Dutch soil, HZPC has expanded to become an international market leader in potato breeding, seed potato trading and product concept development. Reduced demand as consumption decreases THE latest figures from inter-branch organisation CNIPT revealed a mediocre national demand. Last March, German retailers sold 132,000 tons of potatoes, 22% less than in March 2021. The figures of the AMI/GfK Housepanel panel show that, during the first three months of the year, consumption stood at 388,000 tons, 15.7% less than in the same period last year. Mixed quality across country, with heavy rain impacting on crops THE earliest potatoes had already been harvested in Seville and Cadiz at the start of May and they were sold at high prices of €550-600/t, with good tuber quality. In Cartagena, the harvest was delayed by rain. Growers said quality and performance could be a ected as a result of the heavy rains in March. Spanish supermarkets started replacing the French potato with early potatoes in March. Retailers are increasingly buying second-harvest potatoes produced in the Cartagena-Murcia region and early potatoes imported from Israel. New Papp!ns potato brand launched in Spain VALENCIAN company Patatas Lazaro has launched Papp!ns, a new brand of potatoes, which aims to reach more households through fun and informative packaging that takes into account families and new homes. The new brand from the Lazarus Group works the entire category, from versatile potatoes suited to all culinary uses to specific varieties such as frying potatoes, red potatoes, and garnish potatoes. Each varieity is represented by a character on the packaging that humorously reflects its culinary use. All packaging is 100% recyclable. Papp!ns is available in Covirán supermarkets throughout Spain. Delayed production start SICILY’S early potato production was almost a month behind schedule as a result of late sowing. French potato inter-branch organisation, CNIPT, did not foresee a significant harvest until mid-May. Estimates are there will be some 337,000 tons of early potatoes in 2022, i.e. 30,000 tons more than the average for the last five years. The basic concept of this invention involves heating seed cutting discs (using a fuel mixture of acetylene and compressed air) to about 250°F to e ectively kill all pathogens, thereby limiting the spread of disease. A patent application describing this innovative technology has also been filed with CSUVentures. The Plant Pathology Program, led by Dr Chakradhar Mattupalli at the San Luis Valley Research Center, is currently conducting research to demonstrate the e ectiveness of the machine in reducing the spread of bacterial and viral diseases that can occur during seed cutting operations. Preliminary results are encouraging and post-harvest trials are underway.