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OCTOBER 2017 • COUNTRY LIFE IN BC


Potato growers test new varieties in


late, dry season Trial varieties smaller, maturing later, just like the rest of the crop


by DAVID SCHMIDT


DELTA – A couple of decades ago, the BC potato variety trials involved only a couple of dozen varieties and the annual field day attracted a handful of growers. How times have changed. The 2017 field day August


30 at Brent Kelly’s farm in east Delta attracted about 150 people. Delta growers were joined by producers, packers and retailers not only from across the province but Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, Manitoba, Oregon and Washington. They were able to compare more than 90 varieties, from the usual assortment of white, yellow, russet and red varieties to several purple and even one variety with variegated flesh. “The trial gives you a good indication of how these potatoes perform in Delta soil,” trials co-ordinator Heather Meberg of E.S. Cropconsult Ltd. told growers.


Some rot Meberg admitted there


was “some rot” among some of the plants. “We don’t yet know if it was because the plants were in a low spot in the field or in compacted soil or if it is variety-specific.” Meberg’s staff spent the morning of the field day unearthing the tubers from 10 plants of each variety and arranging them in a pile so growers could judge both the yield and the consistency of each variety. Fifty-two varieties are in


replicated trials so they can be scientifically analyzed for yield, disease resistance and other characteristics. The other 40 varieties are grown for demonstration and will


only be included in future replicated trials if they interest local growers. “Each spring, the


Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada potato breeding program in Fredericton sends us numbered varieties for the demonstration. We have no input into what they send us,” Meberg notes.


Stay the course Because of the long, wet


spring, the potatoes were only planted June 5, meaning they had only grown about 85 days before the field day. Since potatoes are usually grown about 100 days before harvesting, many were undersized. “We considered moving the date of the field day but people are used to the day and we didn’t want to disrupt that,” BC Potato and Vegetable Association president Bill Zylmans said. “We are pleased with the


size given how many days the plants were in the ground,” Meberg said, adding sizes seemed more consistent than in some previous years. The variety trial moves


from farm to farm each year. Trial plants are placed within a commercial field and treated just like the surrounding plants. At Kelly’s farm, that meant they were irrigated twice during the season and fertilized and sprayed the same as the rest of the field. At the field day, attendees


are given a sheet to comment on what they see. Meberg says she gets about 30 to 40 responses each year and uses the responses to select varieties to submit to local teaching kitchens for cooking trials and to select varieties for future trials.


Because of the late


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More than 100 growers, packers, retailers and researchers took advantage of the opportunity to compare about 100 varieties of potatoes during the annual BC Potato Variety Trials field day in Delta, August 30. DAVID SCHMIDT PHOTO


plantings, most growers had barely started harvesting by the time of the field day. Some hadn’t started at all, something that worries Zylmans. Zylmans finished planting


his own potatoes on June 10 and says he “got two inches of rain two days later and has had none since.” The deluge and dryness


wasn’t a helpful combination. “My biggest fear is what September is going to do,” he said. “We get X inches of rain in a year and if that’s spread


over just a few days just before or during harvest, we’re in trouble.”


Small potatoes


Zylmans, who grows potatoes and vegetables in both Delta and Richmond, says the lack of summer rain has definitely affected the crop. “We had no irrigation in


Richmond. Our summer crops have been lighter and I expect our potato yields will be down.” Zylmans was able to


irrigate his crops in Delta and as a result his potatoes are “doing well.”


“Delta has done a good job of building irrigation infrastructure and in a year like this, it shows,” he notes. Hugh Reynolds, who hosted last year’s trial, also predicts lower yields but believes that will be offset by improved returns. “All potato growing areas


in North America had issues of one type or another this year so I expect prices will be good this fall,” he said.


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