With the correct analyzes and the advice of the HLB laboratory, a seed potato grower can find and actively combat potato fatigue (AM). Keeping the problem manageable can be done with catch crops, inundation and resistant varieties. With this, a cultivation company that specializes in seed potatoes knows how to get the best out of that specialization.
Seed potato grower Anselm Claassen from Vierhuizen throws everything in the battle to keep his product free from AM. He samples intensively and, together with consultant Egbert Schepel from the HLB laboratory, chooses a suitable variety for each plot. He uses catch crops and inundation to combat AM. The entire business is geared to nematode-free seed potatoes.
The special thing about Claassen’s company is that everything is pulled out of the closet that is necessary to be AM-free. In the first place Claassen works with intensive sampling just after harvest, because that is when the nematodes are most likely to catch. HLB samples with a quad. This is done with GPS, so that precise maps of all 23 parcels can be made. As soon as the cards are available, he will discuss the laboratory results with Schepel.
Intensive sampling immediately after harvest gives the grower the maximum time to take action. The seed potato cultivation returns to a plot every three years. The sooner you know if there is something in it, the more time you have to do something with it. “Sometimes you have to intervene very hard,” said Claassen. “You used to have wet soil disinfection, but that chemical approach is no longer there. So now we opt for a catch crop for new plots with a light contamination and for flooding with a heavier contamination. ”
Read the full report with Anselm Claassen in the trade magazine Akkerwijzer from April
