Seed potatoes

November 21, 2018 | Articles

KWS and Simplot launch Aardevo for hybrid potato breeding and marketing

Since selling the seed potato business to Stet Holland in 2016, it’s been quiet around the potato activities of the German breeding giant KWS SAAT SE. On 2 October, the company suddenly announced that it had signed a joint venture agreement with the American French-fry processing company J.R. Simplot. ‘The task of this newly established…

September 19, 2018 | Articles

Plantera pays better for its desired seed potato sizes

Since the formation of their company, Gerard Bovée and Jeroen van Soesbergen of Plantera, the seed potato trading company in Marknesse, have focused entirely on varieties for the table market. This, however, is ‘a real niche market, which is under pressure’, they’ve observed right from the start. When they got the opportunity to take over…

February 27, 2018 | Articles

Solynta: ‘At the earliest, we will present our first commercial, not yet resistant, variety in 2021’

The fact that the breeding company Solynta is working on a completely new breeding method, potato propagation with seed, is now well known in the Netherlands and far beyond. Recently, this exceptional breeder once again made the newspaper headlines, following a press meeting in Wageningen where it proudly presented the very first Phytopthora resistant F1…

February 27, 2018 | Articles

Robust is the new trend

At the beginning of November, leading European potato breeding companies and seed potato merchants presented their latest variety aces for the future at various locations in the Netherlands. Increasing attention is being paid to strong and sturdy or robust varieties. The reason for this is the demand from both global markets and the cultivation sector.…

September 12, 2017 | Articles

New plant breeders’ rights protocol offers scope for potato seed

This spring, Bejo Zaden BV in Warmenhuizen acquired plant breeders’ rights for the True Potato Seed (TPS) Oliver variety. This raises the question of how the plant breeders’ rights protocol has been adapted for this TPS variety. Lysbeth Hof and Jan Kees Schipper of Naktuinbouw (the Netherlands Inspection Service for Horticulture) answer this question. They…

July 11, 2017 | Articles

New HZPC structure generates growth

It is the view of CEO Gerard Backxs (57) that specific management attention and real focus are crucial factors for a continued enhancement of potato breeding and seed potatoes sales worldwide. Already ten years ago, the trading company opted for a sector-oriented approach with regard to the sale of seed potatoes, whereby, as a team,…