News May 2007:

News from Southern Europe

Just like every year in May the first new potatoes from southern Europe are arriving. After the island of Mallorca, where they already began many weeks ago, then followed by Cartagena, it is now the turn of Seville to prepare for the great rush of the early vegetables. For “sales managers” it is the opportunity to visit their customers and with them measure the results of the plants in the fields, but also to get the first impressions of the new varieties, the market tendencies and the quality of the coming campaign.

This year southern Spain has had an atypical season. The plants have developed in hot conditions which were not favourable for tuberisation, and afterwards there were quite serious cold spells which impeded the physiology of the plant. Now, heavy rain and humid conditions are delaying the beginning of harvest.

Jan Muijsers and Laurent Mémeteau have visited different productions of the Meijer varieties in Andalusia. The following varieties show exceptional potential: Lady Olympia, Soprano and Melody. As usual, Lady Christl will be a product of superb quality.

In trial fields or demonstration fields, Orchestra, Soprano, Lady Amarilla and Bionica varieties show incredible capacities for production with regard to shape as well as caliber, skin and yield.