At the end of December, the "Potato System" magazine organized a webinar dedicated to modern promising potato varieties. The webinar was attended by representatives of well-known breeding and seed companies operating in the Russian market. Each company told the audience about the benefits and features of the two varieties in their lineup.
We decided to keep this useful information for our readers by publishing it on the site as a series of articles.
The fourth article in this cycle is devoted to two early varieties - COLOMBA and PRIMABELLE selection HZPC Holland bv
Speaker: Anna Khrabrova, Commercial Manager HZPC Sadokas.
***
HZPC Sadokas is the Russian division of a Dutch breeder HZPC Holland bv
Today HZPC Sadokas has entered more than 20 varieties into the State Register of Breeding Achievements of the Russian Federation, 12 of them are in Russian production: these are COLOMBA, PRIMABELLE, MEMPHIS, SILVANA, PANTHER, DZHOKONDA, SIFRA, HERMOZA, SAGITTA, LUSINDA, CHALLENGER and RED SCARLET. The seeds are produced at seven sites in seven regions of Russia. The total production area is over 550 hectares. The company implements a full cycle of seed production: from the test tube to obtaining the elite and the first reproduction.
We are often asked to compare one variety with another (usually people are interested in comparing the characteristics of varieties that are similar in terms of ripening). On the recommendation of the readers of the Agronomia channel (the telegram channel of the Potato System magazine), we chose two early varieties for comparison - COLOMBU and PRIMABELLE.
COLOMBA Is a variety with history. Today it is the best-selling variety of the company's breeding. HZPC Holland BV in Russia. Vegetation period: 60-65 days (from the moment of germination to full biological maturity).
PRIMABELLE - a new variety. He also entered the Register as an early one, but based on experience, we note that the growing season of this variety is 65-70 days.
These varieties have the same parental forms, which means that they have a lot in common.
For example, tubers of both have a similar round-oval shape. The flesh of both is pale yellow.
The dry matter content is about 17% (which is considered the norm for early varieties). At the same time, I would like to draw your attention to the fact that when growing seeds of these varieties and laying them for storage (both COLOMBA and PRIMABELLE are perfectly stored), you need to make sure that the dry matter content in the tubers is at least 16%. This indicator is a guarantee that the potatoes are well laid down and will grow safely when planted in spring.
Now let's move on to the differences.
PRIMABELLE forms a larger number of tubers (there will be about 15-16 pieces per bush), compared to COLOMBO. But the marketability (the number of tubers with a diameter of 45+ mm and more) is lower for PRIMABELLE. That is, with a sufficiently large laying of tubers, there is a small fraction. But you can fight this.
To get the maximum marketability for PRIMABELLE, the plantings must be thickened. Compare: when planting potatoes of the COLOMBA variety (seed fraction 30-55 mm), 40-42 thousand plants / ha will be considered the norm. In the case of PRIMABELLE (when grown for table purposes), we recommend a planting rate of 44-45 thousand plants / ha.
Mineral nutrition. For PRIMABELLE (as for an early variety), we advise you to apply fertilizers (especially nitrogen) in one step before planting. Due to this, a reduction in the growing season is achieved and the possibility of the formation of maximum marketability is provided. Fertilizers containing chlorine must be applied six weeks before planting so that the chlorine evaporates and the plant can form the normal dry matter in the tubers, which makes the potatoes tasty.
I also want to focus on planting depth. We always say that COLOMBU needs to be planted 2 cm deeper than the average early variety. And PRIMABELLE must be placed 3 cm deeper, because this variety lays tubers higher than the parent, while there will be slightly more tubers in pieces than on COLOMBE.
We would like to separately emphasize the advantages of PRIMABELLE, which make us talk about this variety as one of the potential leaders.
First of all, this is excellent product data: PRIMABELLE has a brighter and smoother skin, and the eyes are much smaller than on the COLOMBA tubers.
Disease resistance. For this indicator, both varieties are typical Dutch. They are characterized by a rather weak resistance to the Y virus, but at the same time on PRIMABELL the visual reflection of the virus will be much brighter, which makes it possible to do a full phyto-purification and makes the life of seed growers easier.
PRIMABELLE:
- inferior to the COLOMBA variety in terms of resistance to late blight tops, but this indicator can be controlled with the help of plant protection products.
- it is more sensitive to scab - both powdery and ordinary. But using competent and rational watering, the situation can be regulated.
- more resistant to Alternaria and mechanical damage. This year, both of these indicators were super relevant.
We also note that at the moment all the volumes of PRIMABELLE seeds have already been sold, but by the season 2021/22 production volumes will be increased.