| Potatoes & Root crops
Sustainable Sprout Control
iox-M is a well-established and highly effective treatment to control sprouting in potatoes in store and is in widespread use in the UK and on the continent on crops destined for both fresh and processing markets.
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Although approved for use in the UK in 2012, the 2020 harvest season is the first to have seen widespread adoption of Biox-M as the principal product available for sprout control in this country. And, understandably, much of the immediate focus for new users has been on store management, efficacy and cost. Growers, storekeepers and end-user customers have been on a steep learning curve to ensure that they get the best from an unfamiliar product, which requires a very different approach to store management. However, this significant change to sprout control is not taking place in a vacuum. At the same time, British farm support is being turned on its head, with a shift to reward farmers for the delivery of public goods, many of which have a sustainability angle. And the world is moving, perhaps rather slowly, to
address the challenges of climate change and to understand the role that farming and the management of farmland has to play in climate change mitigation. Biox-M is very much part of the wider sustainability tool-box, which customers and consumers expect growers to consider. Biox-M comes from a naturally occurring perennial crop, spearmint (mentha spicata), grown in a number of countries around the world – India, China and the US are large exporters. Carbon is sequestered in the crop and in the soil (perennial crops sequester carbon in soil much more effectively than annual crops). Spearmint oil is extracted by a simple process of steam distillation, used to extract many essential oils. To deliver a uniform product with a minimum level of carvone, the oil is blended to produce Biox-M. There is no synthetic, persistent or harmful chemistry involved.
potato crops;
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Has no harvest interval or MRL;
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Does not leave persistent residues in the fabric of stores and boxes used for storage,
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And is therefore suitable for use in stores, which may subsequently be used for the storage of other crops or seed potatoes;
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Is effective at higher storage temperatures, reducing the risk of acrylamide development on processing;
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Sequesters carbon during growth, removing 1t of CO2 for every 1,000t of potatoes treated;
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And should be a component of the sustainability plan for every farm and every customer; effectively carbon neutral.
Biox-M: •
Is a naturally occurring product, in widespread use in the food industry;
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Is approved for use on organic
Biox-M is the natural and sustainable sprout control for potatoes.
Local mayor kicks off potato planting season for PotatoEurope 2021 O
n the third Thursday of April, the first potatoes for the PotatoEurope harvesting demonstrations were planted under ideal weather conditions. By pressing the start button, acting mayor of Noordoostpolder Jan Westmaas sent autonomous implement carrier Robotti on its way to plant the first potato. The remainder of the big task was handled by planting machines of AVR, Dewulf and Grimme, aided by Case IH tractors. The planting of the potatoes for the harvesting demonstrations is another important step in the preparations for the PotatoEurope event, to be held on September 1-2 at the location of Wageningen University & Research (WUR) Field Crops in Lelystad.
The potatoes of the chosen Aromata variety were planted under supervision of WUR Field Crops Farm Manager Jacob de Jong. The potatoes of this variety from potato breeding and trading company Schaap Holland are 35-50 millimeters in size and have been planted with a spacing of 28 centimeters. They are being grown on two plots with a total surface of 25 hectares at the event location of PotatoEurope 2021 in Lelystad, where the trade fair and a considerable number of demonstrations 26 |
Farming Monthly | June 2021
will take place on September 1-2. ‘The fieldwork, and thereby an essential part of the preparations for the upcoming edition of PotatoEurope in Lelystad, is proceeding according to plan. What helps is the good soil structure thanks to the frosts of last winter’, De Jong evaluates.
It is the first time that potatoes have been planted with the Agrointelli Robotti, an autonomous implement carrier that can independently perform various agricultural tasks. The robot was responsible for pulling the Miedema CP 42 potato planter, a multipurpose 4-row cup planter. This first-of moment suits within the framework of the Robotisation project, a cooperation between WUR, Agrointelli and Dewulf, for which a part of the PotatoEurope demonstration plot has been reserved. After the Robotti had initiated the start of the first planting work on the potato demonstration fields, the task was taken over by 4-row planters Ceres 440 from AVR, Miedema Structural 4000 from Dewulf and Grimme’s GB439. The planters were pulled by two showpieces of sponsor Case IH: Maxxum CVX 145 and Puma CVX 175. ‘With planting the potatoes for PotatoEurope 2021, things are becoming
more concrete. We are very proud of this absolute first, planting potatoes aided by a Robotti robot for the very first time. During PotatoEurope 2021 in September, the Robotti will also harvest these potatoes. Besides, today it became clear once again that we have set up a great cooperation with all parties involved, among whom manufacturers such as AVR, CASE IH, Dewulf and Grimme, WUR, Schaap Holland and of course the members of the press who were present. This is a great base for the further composition of PotatoEurope 2021’, Kuno Jacobs of organiser DLG Benelux summarized the day filled with potato planting. PotatoEurope is an international event exclusively dedicated to the entire potato industry chain. The event takes place each year, in one of the event’s four partner countries: Germany, Belgium, France, the Netherlands. On September 1 and 2 the organisation expects to welcome more than 275 exhibitors and about 16.000 visitors. Visit PotatoEurope.nl for more information, including: • •
Technical characteristics of the machines Photos and video (next week) of the planting event www.farmingmonthly.co.uk
