The leading European potato starch companies AVEBE, Emsland-Stärke, and Lyckeby Industrial demand the use of innovative technologies in agriculture. According to the starch producers, genetically optimized starch potatoes like Amflora from BASF Plant Science are good examples for such innovations. Their request has been prompted by the recent EU Commission decision from November 20, 2008 to cut the subsidies for the production of starch potatoes.
The producers are concerned that the reduction of production subsidies will compromize the profitability of starch potato cultivation. AVEBE, Emsland-Stärke, and Lyckeby Industrial want to meet this challenge by using new potato varieties with optimized starch composition that create added value. For pure amylopectin starch, as it can be extracted from Amflora, the starch industry predicts an additional market value of €100 to 200 million per year allowing them to strengthen their competitive position. The starch producers estimate that the added value will benefit farmers and help compensate part of the impact of the curtailing of subsidies. Furthermore, much needed jobs in regions with weak infrastructure could be secured.
