Europe: Potato seed in just the right quantities for this campaign

Although it may not seem like it, we are facing a seed campaign quite similar to last year’s. It is true that the bad weather has not marked the pace of development of the plantations dedicated to obtaining potato seed  in  the so-called NEPG (Northern European Potato Producers) in such a severe way as last year, but the rains of the last few months have been very damaging.

There have been some weather complications locally and occasionally, but in general the development of these crops has been normal until the first harvests. Or at least more normal than last year, when the weather conditions made  potato cultivation a real challenge.

The biggest complication in this campaign was the presence of heavy and persistent rains in much of Europe during the months of September and October, which brought harvesting to a halt. That is why this year we are talking about “two qualities”: the qualities of the seed harvested before the rains, and those of the seed harvested in difficult conditions with high humidity.

With the latter, great care has had to be taken in the selection and drying (or aeration) tasks before storage and grading to minimise the risk of future problems. Unfortunately, as we have learned, quite a few batches have had to be discarded after a few weeks of storage in the chambers due to rotting problems. A higher than usual incidence of late blight has been recorded in all these production areas.

Surface and yields

According to NEPG data, the total surface area devoted to seed production in France, Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands has increased by 7%. As regards production, the same source points to a decrease of 10%. Unfortunately, however, this data may be out of date and seed availability may be even lower. As we say, we are facing a campaign that will surely be as complicated as the previous one.

Prices

Prices for  seed potatoes  have started the campaign quite high, with uncertainty as to whether they will rise or fall. As last year, due to high demand and the forecast of shortages, a general rise in prices was confirmed at the beginning of December, especially for free varieties such as Agria, Monalisa, Kennebek or Jaerla.

Situation of national seed

The situation in Spain is somewhat more complicated than that of our European neighbours, as the rains have completely covered the harvest dates in the main seed producing areas.

Many hectares have been written off and not harvested, and many stored lots have suffered problems due to high humidity. So this year, obtaining domestic seed will be complicated and expensive.

It is difficult to pinpoint the percentage of  seed potato  losses in the production areas of Spain, but it is certainly higher than 30%.

Perspectives

Due to the normalisation of widespread inclement weather caused by climate change,  potatoes  have been classified as a risk crop and the requirements placed on potato producers have been raised in order to combat this trend. Better seed selection, better soil preparation, greater investment in phytosanitary products, etc., will be some of the improvements needed to deal with this new scenario.

Being exposed to untimely frosts, torrential rains, extreme droughts or insect infestations is the great concern of this changing and radical scenario. It will be necessary to allocate resources in an integrated manner to the construction of new infrastructures and the generation of knowledge.

Will there be seeds for everyone?

So this year we are asking ourselves the same question as last year: will there be enough seed for everyone? There is currently no risk of a seed shortage for our farmers, but this is not a year of abundance either.

It is necessary to pay attention to the quality of the latest harvests; it is possible that in some cases batches are discarded, so there could be a problem in the distribution from time to time.

The earliest areas of the Peninsula have been supplied without problems. Uncertainty is centred on the later areas, such as Galicia or Castilla y León, where farmers are advised to confirm their orders as soon as possible to avoid problems with lack of goods.

What happened to last year’s tests?

As we have mentioned on several occasions in our blog  www.patatadeseimbra.es , the shortage of  potato  seeds last year created an exceptional situation for new varieties to have the opportunity to become known and be tested in different areas of our geography.

In the absence of ’regular’ varieties, farmers had to resort to lesser-known and younger varieties to cover their fields. Many of these varieties performed well and surprised the more traditional ones. But was it enough to trust them again?

It is still too early to confirm this, but seed companies, aware of last year’s events, estimate that the use of these ’young varieties’ will be much lower than last year.

Some of these trials did not go well, and farmers got some pretty poor harvests. So some will not want to be guinea pigs again.