02 Need

The world's population is expected to grow to around 10 billion people in just under thirty years. The demand for food will only continue to expand accordingly over the coming years. An important role has been created for HZPC; with a sustainable and nutritious crop like the potato, we can offer a genuinely valuable contribution towards food security.

One of HZPC’s great strengths is that we sell our seed potatoes and genetic material across the world. As a result, we are better able to spread our risk. After the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, Europe is now seeing the clear effects of the war between Russia and Ukraine.

In other regions of the world, however, the impact is much lower and we are seeing growth. In markets such as China, India and the African countries, potato acreage is expanding on the basis of a growing demand for potatoes. In America, the demand for potatoes has now stabilised. There, the impact of coronavirus on potato consumption was much lower than in Europe. In 2020, Algeria opted to implement import restrictions in order to keep hard currency within the country's borders after fuel prices plummeted. This led to exceptionally high prices for potatoes in the country. In 2021 - 2022, however, Algeria allowed the import of much more seed potatoes and the country's imports of potatoes have been the highest for ten years.

The prices for grain crops, such as wheat, rapeseed and sunflower seeds are historically high, due to issues such as the war in Ukraine. The impact of this filters down to HZPC in terms of a reduction in European potato acreage. As a result of the high grain price, growers in Southern Europe in particular are opting to plant grain rather than using the land for potatoes.

The input costs for seed and ware potatoes are relatively high and have risen dramatically over the past few months due to rising fuel, energy and fertiliser prices. By contrast, there are lower input costs and risks in relation to grains.

Growers who have previously leased land to potato growers are also now using this acreage to grow grain for themselves. Whereas, in normal years, HZPC has been able to sell extra seed potatoes between February and April, this year the demand dried up. Seed potato acreage reduced in Europe, in 2021-2022, by an average of -2.22%.

Sustainability is beneficial for consumers, customers and growers. The potato is a sustainable choice, particularly compared to crops such as rice and wheat. With the Even Greener potato varieties, HZPC has created a selection of even more sustainable potato varieties that have a lower impact on the environment.

Together with our customers, we have defined five important sustainability criteria:

On the basis of these criteria, we are able to determine a potato variety’s degree of sustainability. This does not simply focus on one criteria but uses a balanced combination of five different sustainability aspects. Customers can indicate which criteria are most important to them within the scope of the calculator. The calculator then selects the potato which most accurately matches their wishes and requirements.

Eating habits change over the years, from classic preparation of potatoes, to meals that incorporate potatoes as one element. The consumer is increasingly opting for convenience: meal boxes, processed food, online recipe apps and food services. Together with chain partners, HZPC has developed potato concepts and varieties which suit consumer needs.

HZPC has a clear mission and conviction: people all over the world must have access to healthy food. After wheat and rice, potatoes are the most important crop for feeding people. Seed potatoes are vital for food production and are essential to ensure food security. That is why HZPC is doing all it can to continue to supply seed potatoes to all parties, particularly in countries or conflict situations where conditions where this is not immediately expected. We will thus continue to supply both Ukraine and Russia, as long as we can. From Poland, we also supplied seed potatoes to charitable organisations in order to support food security.

In 2050, we will live on a planet with twice the number of people and less space to grow food, along with an increasing demand for varied and nutritious food products. This constitutes an enormous challenge. Not just for the future, but for now too. Ten percent of the world's population goes to bed hungry every day. An even greater percentage suffers from malnutrition due to an unbalanced diet. In the coming three years, the world's population will grow to 3 billion people. The populations of Africa and South Asia are growing exponentially while climate change is leading to crop yields on these very continents suffering due to drought and heat.

This requires changes across the food system, including modified eating habits, improved food production and reducing food waste. We will not simply fix this with new varieties or a different policy. Innovations are required across the entire food system. It is only through collaborations with farmers, the private and public sectors, that this transformation of a highly complex system will succeed. At CGIAR, the international organisation for agricultural research, we are working on this challenge with our partners on both an international and regional level. This especially involves small-scale farmers in developing countries (there are 500 million of them). We not only focus on good, sufficient food but also on gender equality, climate adaptations, biodiversity and reducing poverty.

The potato is one of the most promising crops in the fight against hunger and malnutrition in the world. It is the third crop in the world and has a short growing cycle. The potato is a healthy and nutritious crop and offers a sufficiently varied diet. One hectare of potatoes also provides greater nutritional value than the same area when used for rice, maize, soya or grain.

Thanks to new breeding techniques, higher yields are just around the corner. Hybrid breeding will ensure that new potato varieties with high resistances can be produced and bred more quickly. With this new form of breeding, potatoes can also be grown from seed. It is much easier to transport potato seed to places in the world where it is now very difficult to bring tubers to. Producing food locally as much as possible is hugely important for food security in countries where this is not a given. Particularly now that we are facing an even bigger food crisis due to the impact of COVID-19 and the war in Ukraine.