It’s the 4th of September, the celebration of the first National Potato Harvest Day in the Netherlands, and all Europlant growers on this day are busy harvesting their crop. Among them farmer Maris; he is harvesting both Jelly and Donata grown on the heavy clay soil of his farm in Slootdorp in the northern tip of the province of North Holland. Mr. Maris is very satisfied with this year’s product and hopes to export it to Libya; the tubers are good in size and there is no scab in sight! His estimated yield of Jelly is 30 ton per ha in the size 35-55 mm and 10 ton 55-65 mm.

Above you can see the video's of the Jelly’s being harvested.

And here above are the video’s of the Donata’s of Mr. Maris being harvested. The conditions for harvest are excellent: it is dry, sunny weather and the potatoes are covered in a small layer of soil protecting them from mechanical damage and bruising. Mr. Maris is using a self propelled harvester from the brand Grimme. The estimated yield of his Donata’s is 35 ton per ha; Mr. Maris is really satisfied and is hoping to export his Donata’s world wide.

Harvest time :)! The Europlant Jelly and Donata intended for export in the coming season were planted around the last week of April, and are now being harvested.

This year was a first for the Europlant varieties Jelly and Donata in Libyan soil. Planting took place in February. Now that all potatoes have been harvested and some farmers are already preparing for the second season which is starting from half August, let’s take a closer look at how things went:

The potatoes arrived in good state by container, from where they were transported to their storage.

After transport to the farmers they were kept for several days at outside temperatures, which helps to wake the potatoes up and prepare them for planting. Planting was done by Grimme planter as well as by hand.

Shortly after emergence the potatoes were hilled up, by mechanical Grimme ridging hiller as well as by plough. Making big and sturdy ridges it essential as this provides the potatoes with more space in which to develop (the whole crop will form above the mother potato) and will lead to bigger tubers. It also prevents potatoes from becoming exposed to the surface, which can lead to sun burn and subsequent rot.

Growing conditions this season were hot and dry. Both Jelly and Donata develop strong foliage, ensuring good tuber growth under difficult weather conditions. When growing Jelly, attention should be paid however to give up to at least 20% less N, otherwise most energy of the plant will go into developing a strong foliage instead of big tubers.

Farmers made sure to harvest early in the day, before the onset of big heat, and the tubers were stored in cooled trucks. Yields were achieved of 45 ton per ha for Donata and 46 ton for Jelly, after 135 and 144 days respectively.

Now look what Salem Zoura, the owner of the company Frites, did with them :) : If you are curious to taste Jelly and Donata, come to one of the two Frites stores in Tripoli, either at the shop in Novlyeen street, next to Novlyeen supermarket, or at the one in Alsyaheya, next to the Badr Mosque, or in Benghazi, next to the Arab medical University.

This year is a first for the Europlant varieties Jelly & Donata in Libyan soil. Let’s find out a little bit more about them:

Dual purpose

Both varieties have the advantage of being dual purpose: they make for excellent table potatoes as well as tasty French fries. This creates extra possibilities for farmers in selling their produce. Farmers can cut their risks by agreeing at the start of the season on a fixed price for (a part of) their crop with French fries producers. This way the factory owner can guarantee a steady, dependable influx for his factory. And at the same time farmers create more financial certainty for themselves because they have the assurance early on that they will be able to sell (a part of) their produce, thus creating a window for long term.

Crunchy bite

In Libya most French fries are made with Spunta, but this potato, being a classic table potato, relatively high in water content and not specifically suited for deep frying, doesn’t create the crunchy bite chips lovers so desire.

A good chip potato needs the right amount of starchiness: too little starchiness as well as a relatively high content in water will make the French fries lack in crunchiness, whereas too much starchiness will turn the fries brown before they are cooked through. In breeding Jelly and Donata Europlant have managed to strike the right balance with regard to starchiness and dry matter content, making for tasty French fries with a crispy crunch.

Jelly

Jelly: a big saver on Nitrogen, with robust foliage

A big plus for Jelly is that is needs a lot less Nitrogen in comparison with for example Spunta. At least 20% Nitrogen can be omitted during the growing season, and quite likely even more, thus saving production costs.

Jelly’s foliage is impressive and very strong, so farmers can rest assured that less N will not in any way harm a good haulm development; in fact, if a ‘regular’ dose of N would be applied, this would be lost in excess foliage instead of bigger tubers. Also applying less N will result in a better dry matter content, and earlier maturity.

To keep Jelly’s haulm in good shape, protective control of late blight (Phytophtora) within the usual spraying program is recommended. Jelly’s resistance to both foliage and tuber blight is high. Jelly is slightly sensitive to early blight (Alternaria), so it is advised to start protection at 30 days after emergence.

Jelly: worth the wait, and an excellent keeper

Good things come to those who wait: Jelly is middle late and needs 135-140 days to reach full maturity. This makes Jelly ideal for early planting. At 100 days the tubers are still oval, but in the next 10 to 40 days the tubers will develop their long oval shape. Haulm killing is best done at around 20 to 30 days after that of Spunta. Earlier maturity can be achieved as mentioned above by applying less Nitrogen: at least 20% less.

Once harvested, Jelly is an excellent keeper in storage. Even under not ideal storage conditions, Jelly can keep up to at least 6 months without losing its taste & shape, while maintaining a stable sugar level needed for processing.

Click here for more information about Jelly

Donata

Donata: beautiful building blocks for the French fries industry

Created specifically for the French fries market, Donata possesses a beautifully smooth yellow skin and great taste. It is also a very high yielding variety. Its shape is long oval, and once fully mature the potatoes bear resemblance to chunky building blocks or bricks, making them perfect for processing into long French fries.

Donata: long lasting dependability & quality

As French fries producer need a year-round steady influx of fresh, good quality produce, good storability is of the essence. Donata keeps excellently in storage, in fact even a bit longer than Jelly, to up to around 10 months! Its sugar levels are very stable and stay low during storage, guaranteeing long lasting suitability for processing.

Click here for more information about Donata

Hereby we would like to give you an impression of the Europlant varieties Donata and Jelly that are being grown in the Netherlands right now for the upcoming export season. The pictures below are of Donata planted on 29 April on heavy clay soil; the Jelly were planted on the same day on light clay/loam soil.

For those farmers who are keen on trying new varieties, please contact us either via phone, WhatsApp, Viber, Facebook or the contact page on our website, and we will keep you posted on the progress of this season’s varieties.

Why Donata?

• Perfect suitability for French fries
• High marketable yield
• Excellent grading size
• Very suitable for long-term storage

Variety characteristics:

• Cooking type B-C
• Maturity medium early
• Skin colour yellow
• Flesh colour light yellow
• Tuber size large
• Tuber shape long-oval
• Good dormancy
• Normal sensitivity to Metribuzin
• Dry matter content 21-22%
• Foliage blight moderately resistant
• Tuber blight moderately resistant
• Medium to high resistance to common scab

It is with great pleasure that NedaLibya announces the company Europlant as their new partner for the import of seed potatoes. Let’s introduce you to our new supplier:

Europlant

The roots of the Europlant Group actually date back to 1890 when Georg Friedrich Böhm established his first breeding station in Hessen in Germany. This early start soon grew into an extensive network of associated breeders, breeding & maintenance stations, with several multipliers at favorable EU-sites, all of which since 1992 are cooperating under the name Europlant Group.

Its headquarters based in Germany, the company is represented in all of Europe’s most important seed potato producing regions. On a yearly basis Europlant Group creates new genetic variations through more than 1.000 breeding combinations, and trades around 250.000 tons seed potatoes.

Europlant is looking forward to helping Libyan farmers find the right variety for growing under Libyan conditions. Currently two varieties are being grown in Libya: the variety Jelly, a tasty table potato as well as a high yielding variety suitable for French fries, as well as Donata, a high yielding variety of long oval shape, very tasty and also suitable for the traditional market as well as French fries.

For those farmers who are keen on trying new varieties, please contact us via phone, WhatsApp, Viber, Facebook or the contact page on our website, and we will keep you posted on the progress of this season’s varieties, both in Libya as well as in the Netherlands.

Click to start your download now the Ebook NedaLibya Potato Growing Tips, Part One: Soil & Seed Preparation

Listen to the West Tripoli Radio program ‘The Good Earth’
Topic: Phytopthora and irrigation
Date: 9 Februari
Presenter: Engineer Salem Khaleefa Ali Alsagheer from the ARC (Agricultural Research Centre)
Interviewee: Dr. Ghait
Montage: Yussuf