Potato Review

www.potatoreview.com POTATO REVIEW NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2022 9 VARIETIES U NLOCKING the potential of new potato varieties can help growers deal with the agronomic and cost challenges facing the potato sector. Salad variety Jacky is one of the new varieties gaining area with high yield and attractive agronomic features. Agronomy Manager at Burgess Farms, Caroline Williams, sees it as a variety that can thrive in conventional and organic systems because of its blight resistance. In 2022, Burgess Farms took advantage of low blight pressure to grow a conventional crop of Jacky without any blight sprays. “ is year pressure was low near Diss where we were growing Jacky. Typically, we would have made ve or six blight sprays to a salad potato crop so there is an immediate saving,” she said. But she is keen to point out that blight resistance is not at the expense of other features of the variety. “We can’t and won’t compromise on the quality that we send to our customers, we need potatoes that delight the consumer,” she said. “We are the main potato supplier to Waitrose, they are looking for a high-spec potato, so it is hard to nd a variety that ticks all the boxes. In some instances, blight resistance may be let down by scru y appearance, or low yield or poor eating.” Burgess Farms packs Jacky as a baby new potato for Waitrose which reaches the shelves as soon as possible. e high tuber number and small tuber size make it a very appealing variety for this market segment, she said. “It has a better yield than other varieties harvested to meet the same speci cation. We nd that planting densely helps us get the yield we want, with 95% tubers under 42mm. But there is still more work to do to re ne planting and nutrition to get the best from Jacky,” said Caroline. Growing Jacky ts in with Burgess Farms’ overall aim to improve the sustainability of the business. e company aims to reduce carbon, reduce use of chemistry and reduce costs while maintaining the same level of productivity. In the case of Jacky, blight resistance and a good yield drives the gains. “ e strategy for blight is not to use a spray unless conditions require it. We have organic crops too so these can act as an early warning for blight and indicate if a spray is needed. With all varieties, it is about managing risk. In organic the risk is much higher. We don’t want to run the same risk in conventional but having good varietal blight resistance allows us to respond to conditions.” Salad specialist Emerald Produce is another potato business looking more closely at the commercial and agronomic potential of Jacky. ➜ While breeder says there is still some work to be done, Jacky has found favour with a number of suppliers and major retailer. Salad variety gains ground Stephen Mathias, Field Services Manager, Pu n Produce: “Size this year has not been as consistent as previous years, a little more uneven, but still good.” Alex Moore, UK Sales Manager at Agrico, is keen for Jacky to become a benchmark variety in the salad sector but admits there is still work to do. Nick Taylor of Taylor Organic Farms: “Yield is medium to strong but marketable yield is strong because of the high tuber number.”