News on Potato Varieties and Seed

The last 4 months was not easy going for the potato production in the NEPG region. But despite the difficult weather conditions, first yield estimates suggest a return to multi-year averages, with an estimated harvest of around 23 million tonnes of potatoes.

Princesa Amandine will participate in Fruit Attraction (from October 3 to 5 at IFEMA Madrid) and can be found at the stands of three of its partners, Udapa (10G06, hall 10), Ibérica de Patatas (5E06, hall 5) and Campotec (8C08, stand Portugal Fresh 2023).

Scientists have assembled the genome sequences of nearly 300 varieties of potatoes and its wild relatives to develop more nutritious, disease-free, and weather-proof crop.

Agronico, Tasmania’s largest seed potato producer, has entered into an agreement for Simplot to acquire the business and property assets of Agronico.

Seed potato supplier Europlant Pflanzenzucht GmbH establishes a subsidiary in Spain to expand its market presence in the Mediterranean. Going forward, Europlant Espana Semillas S.L. will be responsible for the distribution of the modern and high-performance potato varieties in Spain.

United States potato exports reached record value and volume in the 12-month period from July 2022 – June 2023. Export values increased 19.05% to USD 2.2 billion, and export volume increased 3.85% to 3.3 million metric tons (fresh weight equivalent).

Solynta's potato variety was the only one to survive the high late blight pressure in the field among three other commercial varieties planted alongside.

Agrico, Nedato and Leo de Kock announced the name of the new, independent cooperative of common consumption potatoes: PotatoNext. This joint cooperative marks an important milestone in the potato industry and will be the result of a close collaboration between the three renowned companies.

The International Potato Center (CIP) has collaborated with Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO) to release the KC Sweet Purple variety of sweet potato in an effort to tackle ongoing climate challenges facing farmers in Kenya.

Wisconsin yellow potato harvest is underway at Alsum Farms in Arena, Wis. with the first potato loads being washed, graded and packed for fresh market delivery to distribution centers and retail grocers the first full week of August.

University of Idaho doctoral student Lisa Tran’s dissertation has the potential to transform how Idaho’s seed potato certification authority does business.

Tanzania and the Netherlands have agreed to collaborate on developing a joint roadmap for the thriving seed potato ecosystem.

The UK potato sector has been going through a better spell this year, but it did take a long time for the potato shortage to feed back to growers as there was still crop from the previous year on the market and the prices didn’t increase until around mid-May.

Egypt continues to hold the position of the second biggest supplier of sweet potatoes to the Dutch market and is increasing its export of sweet potatoes to the Netherlands year after year.

As of July 1, 2023, total Canadian Potato Storage Holdings are reported to be down 34.9% over 2022 numbers for the same period, and lower than the 3-yr. average.

The potato variety FL-2027 (commercial name FC-5) used for the production of potato chips was registered by PepsiCo India Holdings in India and the registration was granted in February 2016 under the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights Act, 2001, but the registration was revoked in 2021.

The North-western European Potato Growers (NEPG) estimate the area of ware potatoes has increased by 2 to 3%. This is slightly higher than the record in 2020, when it was 522.000 ha for the EU-4 (NL, BE, DE, FR).

Europlant Pflanzenzucht GmbH presents itself with a new, modern brand image. A new logo, new colours and new fonts create a contemporary corporate identity.