Press release
The potato is the third largest food crop in the world and therefore an important part of our diet. Meijer Potatobelieves that everybody deserves to enjoy food. Robust potato varieties are necessary to provide a growingworld population with healthy food, even in the face of climate change. Meijer Potato is now launching a digitalrobustness index with 7 items, made up of different variety characteristics, to objectively compare therobustness of varieties:
Marketable yield includes washability and scab tolerance. Thanks to a high marketable yield perhectare, a variety uses scarce agricultural land efficiently.
Climate adaptation is based on, among other things, the dry matter content and the yield indifferent climates. The more stable the variety scores under different climate conditions, the higherthe score in the index.
Soil adaptation is about a stable high yield and the right dry matter content on different soil types.
Crop protection efficiency concerns e.g. late blight and virus resistant varieties that require lesscrop protection products. These varieties are therefore especially useful for both organic andconventional producers.
Fertilizer efficiency provides insight into how efficiently varieties use e.g. nitrogen and cantherefore be grown with respect for nature.
Water efficiency concerns e.g. salt-tolerant varieties, but also varieties that deal with a scarce(fresh) water supply more efficiently.
Storability refers to varieties with e.g. a long dormancy period and varieties with a good fryingcolour throughout the storage season, resulting in a higher value and higher net output.
The potato variety characteristics used are based on data that has been collected for years in Meijer Potato’sbreeding program. By varying the importance of the 7 robustness items in the digital tool, the customer canselect the most suitable variety in a more targeted manner together with Meijer Potato. The right varietychoice is becoming increasingly important because cultivation is becoming more expensive, legislation stricterand the market more demanding.
About Meijer Potato
Meijer Potato develops and markets high-quality potato varieties that make a difference for people worldwide.They use the potential of potatoes and their people to develop new potato varieties. This is how they respondto changing circumstances, focusing on a better availability of potatoes and allowing for more people to enjoythem.
Final note: for more information/images contact Ms. Ashika Ramadhin at +31 (0) 6 86 85 45 55 ormarketing@meijerpotato.com | www.meijerpotato.com
