News July 2010
SALT TOLERANCE POTATOES
C. Meijer BV places the adaptability of its new varieties to stress factors such as drought and salt high on the agenda of its breeding programme. One of the steps is testing very young planting material in a totally different climatic zone. For example, the introduction of the new generation of varieties with an increased level of stress tolerance, such as Melody, Orchestra, Musica.
We now want to go a step further: the quality and availability of water are immensely important factors for potato growing in many regions. Salification is one of the factors facing arable farming now and in the future.
For this reason, C. Meijer B.V., in collaboration with the Province of Zeeland and ZLTO, planted out a trial field for salt tolerance testing in 2009. The site is a field with patches of seepage water located on Zandweg in Zierikzee. Potatoes are no longer cultivated here. In setting up the trial, we were given important advice by the specialists at ZLTO and Mr Pleijter from Agrowa.
The purpose of the trial:
- To demonstrate the genetic differences regarding salt tolerance between existing varieties.
- To find more suitable parent material to be used as the basis for developing varieties with a higher salt tolerance.
In the first year of the trial (2009) excessive rainfall at the end of May caused flooding on the site of the salt trial field. Large differences between the cultivars were observed, but the structure problems seem to be more influential than the supply of salty groundwater.
photograph of the salt tolerance trial field in June 2009. Due to the structure of the patches
of seepage the (fresh) water remained on the surface for too long,
so there were localised spots where growth lagged far behind.
This year the conditions for the trials are considerably better; the water required by the potatoes comes from the sub-surface and is therefore salty (salinity 21 g/l). Crop development until now is good and in October we will know the results. We expect to be able to find an indication of the performance of these varieties under salty conditions compared with the varieties on the control field a few hundred metres further away.
photograph of the salt tolerance trial field in early June 2010.
Due to the drought, the fresh groundwater is available for the plants.
The crop still looks nice and green.
Photograph of the salt tolerance trial field at the end of July 2010. The drought lasted until 20 July,
but there is still no visible salt damage in the crop. Some varieties mature very quickly.
Whether this is due to the salt will become apparent when we compare the results
of the varieties with the, unirrigated, control field.
To be continued -
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