During his presentation at the official opening of the 11th African Potato Congress in Kigali, Rwanda, World Potato Congress President, Romain Cools, announced the continuous effort of his organization to be a partner of the African potato sector. President Cools illustrated this statement by referring to the active role of African potato specialists in WPC’s global organization: Dr. A. Jooste of South Africa and B. Lemaga of CIP who are both members…
The North-Western European Potato Growers (NEPG) estimates the 2019 forecasted potato harvest between 27 and 27.3 million tons for the five leading potato countries. This is three per cent more than the five-year average and 12 per cent more than last year. At this stage, the estimations are mainly based upon trial digs. Nevertheless, the NEPG stresses this is an estimation — final trial digs will take place at the beginning of October — and…
Over the last two years, HZPC has built a new business development team for the North American market. Led by Mr. Jeff Scramlin, this team focuses efforts in the food service and retail sectors. The existing HZPC Americas operations team in Charlottetown, P.E.I., Canada, successfully produces, sells, and licences HZPC potato varieties in the United States and Canada. HZPC Americas Recently, a corporate decision was made to merge the functionalities of both…
In July, although the area in the five largest Northwestern potato countries increased 2.2 per cent towards 611,190 ha — a record — the NEPG (North-Western European Potato Growers) is not convinced they are heading for average yields. The condition of the crop is good, however, in almost all NEPG-growing areas, drought and water levels are the biggest concern for the growers. More Potato Area With the exception of Great Britain, all…
The World Potato Congress is extremely pleased to announce that Syngenta has become its newest Sustaining Partner. WPC President Cools stated: “The work of the World Potato Congress Inc. is only possible thanks to the engagement of a dynamic board of directors and international advisors, but most of all because of the long-term relationship with our Sustaining Partners that are investing in the activities of our organization. The World Potato Congress is…
THE SYMPOSIUM BEING held at PAA’s annual meeting is an event no one will want to miss. “These are the hottest topics in the industry right now,” says Tina Brandt, co-chair of the 2019 PAA Symposium and Variety Development Manager for the J.R. Simplot Company. The event, which is being hosted by PAA’s Marketing and Utilization section, is also a little different this year, she adds. “This one is unique in that…
IN SOME REGIONS of the world potato consumption has stagnated in recent years. There are several thorny reasons for that, says Peter VanderZaag, president of Sunrise Potato Storage in Alliston, Ont., and a professor at Yunnan Normal University in Kunming, Yunnan Province, People’s Republic of China. “In the media, potatoes get a bad rap in many ways,” he asserts. “There is lots of information out there about how they are fattening, they…
MARCEL BRUINS, editor of European Seed, sat down with the leaders of five major potato breeding companies in Europe to learn more about the challenges of breeding new potato varieties. Piet Smeenge, director of Kweekbedrijf Smeenge-Research; Vanessa Prigge, Crop Improvement project manager at Solana; Gerard Backx, CEO of HZPC; Jan-Paul Bandsma, product manager at de Nijs Potatoes; and Guus Heselmans, R&D manager of C. Meijer B.V., provided insight on this favoured crop. …
Since Spain joined the EU, its potato acreage has dropped from 200,000 hectares down to 65,000 hectares, although it seems that the decline may be coming to an end due to several factors. Firstly, consumers increasingly demand products with better culinary qualities. The potatoes stored at low temperatures, although aesthetically attractive, have disappointed the consumers in terms of taste, motivating them to switch to other products, such as pasta. The new potato…
Potato sector officials say they’re working together to make sure key seed potato buyers in countries like Egypt, Morocco and Israel, get the right post-Brexit messages concerning product standards and quality. While customers in these countries choose British seed potatoes for various reasons, their number one buying criteria is the quality of UK produce, according to Sandy McGowan from Fife-based Cygnet PB. McGowan: “We’re an island nation, producing most of our seed…