03 Breed

We must work towards a much more sustainable growing process. Which uses less water, reduced levels of chemicals and fertilisers, and offers stable yields. This is the focus of our R&D centre in Metslawier each and every day. We develop varieties that perform well even under challenging conditions. Our goal? A climate-adaptive, efficient and stable potato crop. Breeding remains a numbers issue, whereby you want to reliably measure the right traits as early as possible. This makes it possible to saturate the breeding volume with sustainability traits and test those clones or test hybrids in their target markets and climates for economic yield. We thus continue to make an important contribution to food security for a growing world population.

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Over the past 15 years, Royal HZPC Group B.V. has built heavily on the development and especially implementation of methods that make variety development more focused and faster. By 2030, three-quarters of the varieties we introduce will have to be resistant to the two most significant potato diseases, Late Blight- and virus resistance. In effect, we have created a powerful machine for developing new potato varieties with improved qualities for the future. With advanced marker-driven breeding and data models, we can realise this process more comprehensively and much more purposefully. The first climate-robust varieties, such as Quintera and Camelia, are now commercial. Other robust varieties are being introduced too. Whereas the planting acreage of new potato varieties in 2022-2023 was still 200 hectares, we are aiming for 3500 hectares in four years.

The new potato varieties all have the resistances that growers and customers are waiting for. With lower input, these varieties maximise yields, even in difficult conditions. In doing so, we have set the bar high. Our new varieties for the French fries industry, for example, must offer nematode resistance. Thanks to this resistance, nematodes cannot reproduce and, in turn, die off. If this resistance is not offered, we cross off the specific variety even if it is a promising breed in other respects.

We are already setting the tone for our new varieties with the highly late blight-resistant varieties Cayman and HOM 13-8236. Among its other great features, HOM 13-8236 is the first variety in the market with double late blight resistance. And this is vital for a disease that mutates at lightning speed, to bypass resistances and reduce its susceptibility to plant protection products. With two ‘locks on the door’, each with a different key, varieties are significantly less susceptible to late blight. Growers can get by with far fewer plant protection products. This saves time, money and diesel, and contributes to a better climate. Our goal, in terms of this disease, is to introduce only varieties with double late blight resistance by 2030. The environmental benefits for mainstream agriculture from this development are huge. Mind you, fully organic cultivation is not recommended as it greatly accelerates the disease's adaptation to break through resistances. The combination of a good resistance package with no or low environmental impact crop protection is the most sustainable approach. For our growers, robust varieties with virus resistance are hugely important. The figure below shows that we now sow 750.000 genetically different seeds every year and select about five commercial varieties from them. This figure of 750.000 has grown significantly in recent years and will continue to grow in the coming years with increasingly stringent selection.

Following successful yields from hybrid varieties in trial fields in 2021, we will continue to test and further improve hybrid varieties on a large scale. Meanwhile, we are already preparing to introduce the first hybrid potato variety to the Central African market in 2026. A variety introduction requires a substantial investment in both time and money. We have set our sights, first and foremost, on smallholder farmers in Kenya. A country whose traditional potato market we know well.

Gene-editing is a New Breeding Technology (NBT) that allows us to accelerate the development of absolutely resistant varieties. And this is crucial, as Europe accelerates reductions in the use of plant protection products. With gene-editing, we are able to give breeding an extra push. They are mutations that also occur in nature and combinations of genes that you can also achieve with common marker-driven breeding. So the new trait of a modified breed will emerge anyway; this technique just speeds up the process. So far, all forms of gene-editing fall under the European Union's GMO legislation. In many other countries, gene-editing is already permitted or is becoming more acceptable. Last March, for instance, the UK passed a law change for this purpose that allows gene-edited varieties without a GMO label to enter the market. In recent years, led by industry association Euroseeds, efforts have been made to lobby the European Union to reconsider regulations around gene-editing.

The European Commission took this position on 5 July 2023:

• Under the published proposals, the European Union will consider plants that could have been obtained through older breeding methods or found as natural mutations under different legislation. At the moment, however, this is just a proposal and it could take another four to five years for a final decision to be made.

In some countries, gene-editing is already permitted. We'll see if we can get started on gene-editing at these locations. We do, however, feel a sense of moral responsibility to prevent gene-edited material from entering markets where this technology is not allowed.

In the summer of 2023, all our laboratories were renovated. These are, in essence, the finishing touches for the refurbishment of our research centre in Metslawier. The teams themselves set up the logistics on the shop floor, creating an optimal working environment.

In 2019, Sieger Talsma and his wife took over his father's arable farm in Ternaard. 'Heit' can still be found there regularly and Sieger employs two staff. Sieger grows around 100 hectares of seed potatoes for HZPC and STET. He also does agricultural nature management and has a small acreage of onions and cereals.

We are a traditional arable farm and potatoes are our core business. We don't actually buy anything, but produce everything ourselves from mini-tubers. We are always keen to try varieties. There is a great need for new, robust varieties with good resistances. The risks for seed potato growers are increasing. On the one hand, we are allowed to use fewer and fewer pesticides and, on the other, requirements are getting stricter. This increases the chances of the seed potatoes being downgraded or even rejected. So we are looking for reliable varieties which are sure to provide a good quality end product.

It is now the third year of our new variety HOM 13-8236. This variety is virus-resistant and has high late blight resistance. We will have about 7 hectares of it by 2023. In the first two years, of course, you are very careful with any new varieties, but this is now a field crop. It really needs to prove itself this year. The seed potatoes come through the harvester and tipper and into storage. Only then can you see how well they hold up. Of course, we hope the HOM 13-8236 lives up to expectations because, at the risk of repeating ourselves, we need new and robust varieties. This could end up being an excellent start but, in terms of the future, we obviously need more great varieties.

So far, I feel very positive about the variety. It seems highly robust. Over the past few years, the skin has looked good. This year, we were late in planting so we had to remove shoots several times, but the HOM 13-8236 just kept doing well. We have noted that this variety is keen to germinate and is susceptible to silver scab. Fortunately, we can do something about that. For the moment, I can't say anything about bacterial susceptibility; that will be proven (or not) during this harvest. We also have to learn how to grow new varieties. We have had some varieties for ages. For these, I know exactly what to expect and how to respond. With a new breed, that's more a process of trial and error. We may need the courage to let things take their course.