For potato growers, 2019 has been a mixed year. Many producers this season decided to start growing potatoes for processing, and this poses new challenges for breeders and agronomists and entails further development of the market. At the same time, new changes in state standards, according to experts, cast doubt on the development of the industry.
The correspondents of the magazine “Understood how potato growers stay afloat”Agrotechnics and technologies».
In 2018, a large joint venture was opened in the Lipetsk region.Belaya Dacha»And Lamb Weston / Meijer (world leader in potato products) - a French fries plant. The enterprise has not yet reached full capacity, but, according to market analysts, the volume of imports of French fries to Russia has already decreased. In addition, Lipetsk fries are also produced for export to Israel, Europe and African countries.
Russian chips and french fries
"We expect that in the second half of 2019 a similar plant in the Moscow region will fully start operating - the company"Agriko"- with a processing potential of about 70 thousand tons of raw materials," says the executive director of the Potato Union Aleksey Krasilnikov. - Russian investors also have plans for a serious object for partial processing in Tyumen on the basis of the Agrofirm "KRiMM”With a capacity of 30 thousand tons of processing potatoes and vegetables. We do not see any other major projects in this direction, although in 2019 it is planned to begin the construction of a branch of a chips factory in the Siberian region, but this is only a project. ”
With the growth in the production of domestic potatoes, which are processed for fast food enterprises, it is logical to assume an increase in the interest of producers in new varieties designed specifically for these purposes. At the moment, unfortunately, Russian producers, although they grow such potatoes on their own, are working with foreign selection - there are simply no domestic varieties suitable for the production of chips or French fries.
“We still have little optimism in the direction of breeding varieties for fries and potato chips, although it probably should be present,” says Aleksey Krasilnikov, “because there is a pilot program for the development of potato breeding and seed production, for which about 11 were allocated from the federal budget. RUB bln Partially these funds have already been brought to the attention of the performers. The program has about 24 participants. According to this program, it is assumed that by 2025 Russian breeders will have developed at least 12 varieties of domestic selection, which are not inferior in quality to varieties of foreign selection. And although we insisted that varieties for industrial processing be separately bred within the framework of these indicators, unfortunately, they did not hear us. Therefore, we can only guess what our breeders will offer by 2025 ”.
Today, selection is carried out in the direction specified by the final consumer of the product, notes Anna Khrabrova, commercial manager of the company HZPC Sadokas (potato breeding and seed production). “The potato market is segmented: for example, there are separate varieties for washing, separate for processing, and there are also several directions here, including french fries, potatoes for chips and potatoes for obtaining high-quality starch. Varieties for the traditional market are distinguished separately. Each of these segments within itself is also divided into parts. Accordingly, taking into account the wishes of the end consumer of the product, depending on its characteristics and needs, the selection develops. " For example, for French fries, varieties with a pale yellow flesh color, an elongated tuber shape and a stable content of reduced sugars during the entire storage period are desirable, the expert adds.
At the request of the consumer
Today, the consumer pays attention not only to the taste, but also to the appearance of potatoes, since the product on the shelves is "chosen with the eyes," notes Anna Khrabrova. Accordingly, the breeders are faced with an additional task - to make the product visually attractive. “The varieties bred 20-25 years ago, in most cases, have deep eyes, and the brightness of the peel is out of the question. “Today, a very important requirement is the visual appeal of the product,” says the specialist. - And the second requirement, the manufacturer's requirement, is the gross tax. So, for our clients-producers of early table potatoes, the most important indicator is high yield at an early ripening period. These parameters (appearance, yield, ripening period) will be present in the variety only if the breeder is initially focused on them, choosing parental forms with the required starting parameters. I would not say that the potato market is conservative, but rather a market for analog varieties. Farmers want and are ready to work with new varieties, but they need the new variety to be an improved version of the promoted variety. " Advanced farms that use intensive technology are doing their best to reduce the cost of the product without losing quality. This can be achieved by increasing the gross yield of the standard product. The cultivars bred in the past had different landmarks. For example, they were more focused on the presence of disease resistance, since at the time of their creation there was not yet such a powerful plant protection system as now, the commercial manager draws attention. HZPC Sadokas.
Technology is key
Each variety requires compliance with a specific production technology. “For example, in our product line there is a potato variety that is one of the leaders in sales today,” says Anna Khrabrova. - Now the market knows about his qualities, and he actually sells himself, but he did not become so at once. Certain work was done with the farmers. For many, it was new to the requirement that this variety must be planted 2 cm deeper than the standard technology provides. And these centimeters give the tuber additional space for the formation of stolons, which allows them to realize their potential to the maximum. " Another example is varieties with apical dominance (development of the apical tuber bud, which grows faster and slows down the growth of lateral buds), the specialist continues. There are few such varieties, but they exist, and among them there are very famous varieties. Such an individual feature of the variety must be taken into account in order to choose the correct technology for the preparation of planting material. It is advisable to break off the apical sprout in a timely manner, which will enable the lateral buds to awaken. If we assume that each stem produces 3 tubers, then the mathematics of the process is obvious. Instead of one apical stem, the plant forms 3-4 shoots, each of which lays 3 tubers. Knowing the nuances of cultivating a variety brings obvious economic benefits.
Potato growers of the Vologda Oblast know firsthand how the correct cultivation technology is able to raise an agricultural enterprise literally from ruins. It was here, on the site of a large collective agricultural enterprise that broke up in the nineties, that modern private potato farms were created.
“Finnish specialists conducted seminars on potato cultivation,” recalls Vasily Solovyov, head of a farm (Vologda Oblast), “which were invited by the District Administration. They talked about proper farming and potato cultivation technology. Then a landmark was outlined in the work. Then there were storages that you could look at and find out what to focus on. Before that, we had storage in piles. We were shown how to systematize the production process, a Finnish specialist came to the farm and fully supervised the process of growing potatoes for the first few years of our work. Calculated methods, taught to plan productivity. Using the formulas, he calculated what the additional harvest would be. It surprised me then. The push was very strong. That's how it all started. "
Now Vasily Solovyov specializes in the cultivation of seed potatoes of high reproductions, starting with mini-tubers and ending with the first reproduction. The seed potato planting area covers more than 150 hectares. “Six permanent workers are involved in the production,” says the agrarian. "That is, it turns out that only a few people use modern technology to produce more than 5 thousand tons of potatoes." Seed potatoes are sold to many regions of Russia - from the Vologda region to Astrakhan. In total, the farm grows more than fifteen varieties of potatoes, the head of the farm shares. The farm is part of the structure of primary seed production in the Vologda Oblast; the sale of high-reproductive seeds is the main source of its income.
Several more farms are engaged in the cultivation of seed potatoes of high reproductions in the former agricultural enterprise. All of them are part of the Ustyuzhensky Potato cooperative, chaired by Vasily Solovyov.
Incomplete standard
Meanwhile, with all the external positiveness of the situation with the development of the potato seed market and the revival of domestic seed production, experts assess the new rules established in this area ambiguously. On January 1, 2018, the new GOST 33996-2016 for seed reproductive potatoes came into force, which gives some relief in the field of potato diseases and partially contributes to their spread across Russia.
“The main categories of potatoes cultivated by farmers are elite (ES) and reproductive (RP), mainly the 1st or 2nd reproductions, for which the least“ soft ”requirements are set according to the new GOST,” explains Alexander Hutti, head of the sector Potato Diseases Laboratory of Plant Immunity to Disease VIZR. He notes that these categories (ES, RP1 and RP2) are leading both in terms of planting area and in purchases of seed potatoes, especially from abroad. The latter is especially important, since the “purity” of the imported seed and the absence of both quarantine and non-quarantine pathogens is a fundamental factor in potato growing and the key to successful cultivation and high yields of potatoes, the expert is convinced.
An important point: potatoes are the only crop for which crop losses from “mushroom” diseases can be up to half of the potential, even with the use of protection schemes, continues Alexander Hutti. Moreover, the resulting crop will almost always be “clean” or with mild symptomatic manifestations of certain diseases. Moreover, the new GOST does not take into account part of the onset of the infectious process, called or defined as a “latent” form. The danger of such a “latent” form is clear from the name: in the absence of visible typical symptoms of the causative agent of the disease, the affected seed potato is a “time bomb” that will inevitably lead to the accumulation of infection and crop loss to one degree or another, the expert warns.
According to representatives of the Potato Union, many inconsistencies today arise due to the fact that the new GOST is international - it was developed for the entire territory of the countries of the Eurasian Economic Union. “This year, the All-Russian Research Institute of Potato Farming named after A.G. Lorkha, who was one of the developers of the GOST, announced that he intends to improve the national GOST for seed potatoes, says Aleksey Krasilnikov. - By the way, this standard was widely discussed, and we approached its adoption very carefully. Yes, we were forced not to tighten the requirements for the disease rate, because otherwise, most of the seed companies would not be able to meet them. We would just be left without seed potatoes. That is, it would have been, of course, but it would not have met the requirements, ”the specialist sums up.
Alexander Hütti, Head of the Potato Disease Sector, Laboratory of Plant Immunity to Diseases VIZR “Over the past decade, especially the last few years, the symptoms of the manifestation of pathogens of potato fungal diseases have changed dramatically. For example, the causative agent of black scab (mushroom Rhizoctonia solani JG Kuhn) or, as it is commonly called, rhizoctoniasis is increasingly found on tubers in the form of specific-sized, different rounded ulcers, from single to numerous, scattered randomly on the tuber surface. Such ulcers can easily be confused with the manifestation of such a dangerous disease as tuberous scab. In addition to specific round-shaped ulcers, the disease manifests itself in the form of necrosis, cracks, sclerotic mesh, rotting of the eyes and lentils, and less and less commonly known black sclerotia, while the new GOST is narrowly aimed only at identifying the aforementioned sclerotia, and the tuber should not be covered with them less than 10% of the total occupied area. Otherwise, with less damage, such a tuber is considered healthy and can be used for seed in the corresponding reproductive category. In addition, it is surprising that there is no information that the size of sclerotia is of paramount importance in terms of infectious ability and harm caused, since the larger the sclerotia, the more harmful it is. And small sclerotia usually lead a saprophytic mode of existence without harming the tuber, and for example, the presence of several large sclerotia is most potentially dangerous: they will do more harm than numerous small ones.
It is worth noting that, for other fungal diseases, the new GOST is one-sided, because for some reason it takes into account only one specific symptomatic manifestation of a particular disease. As a rule, several pathogens of potato diseases are involved in the infectious process, with the only difference being that one disease is the root cause of the disease, and the rest are connected subsequently, making diagnosis difficult or leading to an incorrect determination of the pathogen due to blurred symptoms. In this regard, the identification of a single pathogen without a comprehensive study of the entire pathogenic complex may serve in the future to incorrectly assign the reproductive category. Interestingly, in the new GOST, when several pathogens are detected on a tuber, only one is selected from the list in the order of the proposed sequence, and the rest are not taken into account at all, which looks somewhat strange. As an example, pathogens of anthracnose and blackleg, phomosis, fusarium and alternariosis, which can occur on the tuber at the same time and serve as an incorrect diagnosis, can be cited. ”
Source: https://www.agroinvestor.ru