News on Potato Cultivation from the Netherlands

Due to abundant rainfall, a lot of potatoes in North-western Europe (Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and France) have not yet been harvested. The lifting period was too short to get the potatoes to the stores in good conditions.

After several meetings and visits to each other, a powerful collaboration has emerged. The Hybrid True Potato Seeds from Solynta and the plant raising facilities and skills from Agris are turning out to be a golden combination.

The Dutch company that has carried the seal of the crown since 2023 and has been renamed HZPC Royal Group, will receive clients, partners and friends for an event that will be held for the first time at the Metslawier station.

For financial year 2022/2023, potato breeder Royal HZPC Group B.V. reports substantial growth in sales. Gerard Backx, CEO Royal HZPC Group B.V., underlines that the important growth in volume, is mainly in Asia and America.

Here is a sneak peek into one of the many test fields Solynta is currently harvesting. They will be assessing the quality of the tubers, tuber size, dry matter composition, taste, robustness and many other important traits per variety.

The Netherlands' development as an agricultural country and retaining enough farmland. And ensuring potatoes remain in Dutch consumers' minds.

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.

Dutch Potato Starch cooperative Royal Avebe has been awarded a gold medal by Ecovadis, a global collaborative platform that helps companies assess sustainability performance throughout the supply chain.

APH Group appointed Albertus Kloosterman as Chief Commercial Officer (CCO), and Bart van Doorn as Chief Financial Officer. To keep up with its growth the company is taking large steps and is looking forward to further shape the future of APH Group together with Albertus and Bart.

The ware potato activities of Agrico and Nedato, along with Leo de Kock, shall be hived off to form a new independent cooperative of ware potato growers. The new organization will start its activities this autumn. Further integration will then take place in stages.

The government of the Netherlands wants farmers growing potatoes on sandy soil to harvest potatoes by October 1 and grow intermediary plants that catch nitrogen in the soil so nitrates can not leach out and contaminate groundwater.

Potato breeder HZPC expects turnover to grow 11% from last year (then EUR 352 million (USD 386 million)) with a gross margin of EUR 66,5 million (USD 73 million) (last financial year EUR 63.9 million (USD 70 million).

Potato cooperative Agrico announced to its members an average price indication of EUR 35.50 (USD 39.20) per 100 kg for all supplied kilos of 28 mm upwards for seed potatoes from the 2022 harvest.

Growers learn best from other growers. This has been proven by the future-proof seed potato cultivation project, an initiative to examine upcoming changes in potato cultivation with a group of growers.

The Netherlands is committed to developing a sustainable and highly productive food system, with less use of fertilisers, water and pesticides, and more biodiversity and crop diversity.

In Northwestern Europe (EU-04; NL, DE, BE, FR) the potato sector is facing a range of issues in the upcoming months. The million dollar question: How will the potato market respond? An analysis by the NEPG.

Solynta – hybrid potato breeding technology company from The Netherlands and FreshCrop Limited, Kenya’s largest producer of seed tubers, have signed an agreement to collaborate on the development of hybrid true potato innovation in Kenya.

Due to the current scarcity of fertilizers, the 'red areas' and the increasing production costs, efficient nitrogen fertilization is becoming increasingly important.