Potato Review

VARIETIES www. tongengineering .com e: sales@tongengineering.com t: +44 (0)1790 752771 > Gentle Handling > Advanced Design > Intelligent Control INNOVATIVE DESIGN FROM FARM TO PACK TURNKEY PROCESSING SOLUTIONS OPTICAL SORTING IN-FIELD & ON-FARM UNRIVALLEDCLEANING&GRADING ADVANCED BOX HANDLING WASHING & POLISHING THE COMPLETE SOLUTION Designed with you in mind “The market for salad varieties has been stable for a long-term but we are now seeing cost pressures across the supply chain,” said Robert Brown McKeen, Director at Emerald. “Double digit percentage increases in cost of production mean we need prolific varieties to offset it.” “New varieties are so important; we always need new aspects and new traits to stay successful. Jacky has now completed its third year of trials, the area grown this year was still quite small at 7.71ha and it has yielded well. Does it have more potential? Yes, I think it does, we can probably get more from it if we can get the seed to test it more thoroughly.” “For a salad variety, skin finish is vital in the marketplace, this year the skin finish has been good enough even though it has been a difficult year with such dry weather. I know the variety has been listed by several packers which is a good sign and I believe what’s available has reached retailers and been sold.” Agrico’s Alex Moore is keen for Jacky to become a benchmark variety in the salad sector but admits there is still work to do. “High yield and high tuber numbers along with its late blight resistance are Jacky’s strongest features.” “The foundation of the high yield is the high number of tubers per plant from 25–50mm. It forms small round tubers which are ideal for the salad market. Most importantly, it seems to show a remarkably consistent tuber size which is what packers, retailers and consumers look for.” Fieldwork has shown it has the potential to produce two million tubers per hectare with 65% sized 25-35mm which equals a 50 tonne per hectare overall yield. Jacky is one of several varieties to come out of Agrico’s “Next Generation Programme” for blight resistant varieties. Agrico’s global team have looked for wild and old varieties of potato with high levels of blight resistance. These are mainly from Peru where potatoes originate and Mexico where the late blight pathogen first appeared. The result of this work is seen in varieties such as Jacky which combine resistance, yield and eating quality. Blight resistance can help reduce input costs in conventional systems and has an obvious place in organic production too. Taylor Organic Farms is the largest organic root vegetable producer in the country. Having just completed the second season trialling Jacky, owner Nick Taylor is positive about the variety so far. “It’s performed well, I have a lot of hope for the variety, but it is still early days. This year we had six hectares, last year it was one. Yield is medium to strong but marketable yield is strong because of the high tuber number. As organic producers, blight tolerance is a massive step forward, overall, it is a good variety agronomically.” He notes that so far, he has seen decent resistance to scabbing, good skin finish and reasonable eating. Storage is short to medium-term with all stocks needing to be out of storage and with retailers by January. “It seems to be a good variety and we want to grow more of it next year. There have not been any problems, but caution is always needed because experience shows that in the first five years any variety can reveal an Achilles’ heel.” Stephen Mathias of Puffin Produce agrees that yield and blight resistance are the most important features of Jacky. “Our growers are keen on Jacky because it yields well with lots of small salad potatoes produced per plant,” he says. “The other very useful benefit of growing Jacky is that it has very strong blight resistance, this allows growers to potentially reduce fungicide inputs.” “We have had high tuber numbers per plant every year we have grown it. Size this year has not been as consistent as previous years, a little more uneven, but still good. The internal taste testing we have done here has provided good feedback on its eating and cooking qualities.” “The other very useful benefit of growing Jacky is that it has very strong blight resistance, this allows growers to potentially reduce fungicide inputs.”