De Nijs: 'We're looking for strong, robust, drought and heat resistant varieties.'

Every year in the first full week of November, the European potato breeding and seed trading companies operating in the Netherlands present their new varieties and latest breeding results to their global customer base.

Many of these new varieties are intended to be used some day for the production of French Fries. All participants at what we here at PotatoPro call the 'Potato Variety Presentations in the Netherlands' (of doodgewoon rassenpresentaties in het Nederlands) have one or more contenders in this segment.

This raises the question:

“Is there room for all those new French-fry varieties?”

That is the question Aardappelwereld (World Potato Magazine) asked the participating companies last year. And thanks to our brand new partnership agreement with them, we can report you the answers they got in this series of articles!

De Nijs, Warmenhuizen

Jan-Paul Bandsma, De Nijs, Warmenhuizen:

“As a trading house, we're a shareholder of the Fobek breeding company in Sint Annaparochie. Every year, we give an indication of the percentage of potential varieties we want to have for a certain market segment.”

“This includes a large percentage of French-fry varieties. One basic requirement is potato cyst nematode resistance. In addition, a variety must be export worthy and have an appropriate underwater weight.”

“The aim is to put a high-quality export variety with French fry quality on the market.”

Jan-Paul Bandsma:

“Our main market is countries around the Mediterranean Sea. What they want are high-yielding varieties with good drought and heat resistance.”

“They have to perform well under the same conditions that we had here in the Netherlands last summer. And it should be a variety that does well with three or four irrigation rounds per season and not one that needs water every week.”

“We’re therefore looking for strong, robust, drought and heat resistant varieties, in short, varieties that can take a beating. So yes, there's still plenty of room for new French-fry varieties in that respect.”

“This summer has taught us that the weather conditions here in Europe were very erratic and that these characteristics are needed here, too.”

“We're looking for just such a variety. A French-fry number that looks promising is FOB2012-136-032. This number is starting its seventh year of trialling and has yet to prove itself in practice.”