Blogposts

July 19, 2021 | Blogs

Potato storage without Chlorpropham – Starting early with 1.4SIGHT

In Europe, the European Commission has decided that potato growers are no longer allowed to use Chlorpropham in the storage of potatoes. This ban on the product used for decades to store ware and starch potatoes is a real game changer in the European potato sector. Bert van Putte from the village of Swifterbant shares…

July 12, 2021 | Blogs

Top quality French-fry potatoes without Chlorpropham

In Europe, the European Commission has decided that potato growers are no longer allowed to use Chlorpropham in the storage of potatoes.This ban on the product used for decades to store ware and starch potatoes is a real game changer in the European potato sector. Innovative Dutch growers are sharing their initial experiences with the…

July 05, 2021 | Blogs

Corona crisis reveals added value of new sprout inhibitor for potatoes

In Europe, the European Commission has decided that potato growers are no longer allowed to use Chlorpropham in the storage of potatoes. This ban on the product used for decades to store ware and starch potatoes is a real game changer in the European potato sector. Paul Versluijs from the village of Scherpenisse shares his…

June 28, 2021 | Blogs

Potato storage without Chlorpropham requires sprout inhibitor that costs little, works well

In Europe, the European Commission has decided that potato growers are no longer allowed to use Chlorpropham in the storage of potatoes. This ban on the product used for decades to store ware and starch potatoes is a real game changer in the European potato sector. Johan Koop from Emmer-Compascuum shares his initial experiences with…

May 31, 2021 | Blogs

How rising temperatures affect pest pressure in potato growing seasons

Insect populations increase with increased temperature. Three insects are of particular importance when it comes to potato production, with increasing optimum temperature of relative development rate (RDR).

May 25, 2021 | Blogs

What effect does climate change have on fungal potato diseases?

When potato originally was introduced from South America to Europe and from there was distributed globally, hardly any diseases and pests came along. Possibly initially only healthy true seed was brought on the ships and no tubers with diseases crossed the ocean. The first widely reported incidence, disaster rather, of an introduction of a major…

May 17, 2021 | Blogs

How to study the effect of climate change on potato pests and diseases

The development rate of pests and disease is the increase rate of their population. The population is expressed as the number of spores in case of fungi, as adults (imagoes) in the case of insects and as living larvae in case of nematodes.

May 10, 2021 | Blogs

A closer look at some properties of seed potatoes – Size and age

The seed tuber as propagation material of the potato plant is determined by, amongst other things, its size and age. The amount of seed planted per hectare depends on several distinct factors.

May 03, 2021 | Blogs

A look into the generative and vegetative stages of potatoes

Like insects, potatoes have four distinct appearances. A butterfly deposits its eggs on a leaf, that generate a caterpillar that grows during a few molts. At the end of summer, the caterpillar spins a web around itself to make a pupa that goes into hibernation and survives the winter. In spring, the metamorphosis is complete…

April 29, 2021 | Blogs

What is there to know about degeneration of seed potatoes

Seed tubers (seed potatoes) within and between lots differ in health status. Compared to other annual field crops, such as wheat and maize that also need to be sown every cropping season, the potato crop is special in several aspects. The main difference is that the potato crop is multiplied vegetatively. Like other vegetative means…