News on Potato Varieties and Seed

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.

You may think of a seed as tiny and insignificant. Don’t be fooled: its impact on global agriculture is immense. The seed industry is constantly balancing innovation with bringing value to growers.

Imports of seed potatoes had been growing in Morocco and reached their at least five-year high of 60,000 tonnes in the MY 2022/23