“I don’t see a chemistry-free potato happening” – Interview with Joost van Rijteren

In recent years, the media around Solenta has been quiet. What is it like behind the scenes?
“Our staff has grown from 20 to 100. A large part of them are working in R&D (breeding). The focus is now on marketing. In 2023, we will start selling our seed potatoes worldwide. We are now in our second growing season. These are not the first varieties we are offering, but where we have previously mainly offered prototypes, the current varieties can be used commercially.”

Are farmers eager to start growing potatoes from seed?
“More and more farmers, spread across twenty countries, are using our seeds and they are positive about them. This makes us satisfied and of course we are also very proud. Hybrid potatoes from seed (TPS or True Seed Potato) are not a revolution but the evolution of seed potato production has a big impact that we can reduce with this product.”

What do you mean by impact?
The current production system for seed potatoes puts a lot of pressure on the environment. You are talking about six to eight years of breeding. That costs land, water and other inputs. Moreover, your yield and quality are not guaranteed. With seed potatoes, you can shorten this process to six months and you don’t need all these hectares for that. In addition, we already have seven or eight resistance genes against Phythothorax. This is also necessary to keep this disease under control. With conventional breeding, this takes years. This is also possible with conventional genetic modification or Crispr-Cas technology, but this technology is not allowed here. It also takes much longer.”

Maybe seed potato trading companies are keen on your innovation?
“We feel this tension, but I would like to stress that Solenta is looking for cooperation. I think it can coexist perfectly. We are now focusing on export destinations in Africa, Asia and India. These are the countries where potato cultivation is growing very fast. In Europe, “clonal propagation” is still there. I can imagine that farmers here would also like to start potatoes from seed and then propagate these tubers traditionally. The human market share is not active everywhere in the world, and this fragmented coverage also means that the development of hybrid potatoes is not as fast as we have been growing Bentje in the Netherlands for more than 100 years. In the vegetable world, something like this is unthinkable.”

So the likelihood that a Dutch potato farmer will grow his own raw material is not that great?
“The above countries are increasingly focusing on potatoes as a staple food. This replaces rice, which has less nutritional value and uses more water. The footprint of potatoes is very favourable. According to FAO figures, potato cultivation worldwide is growing by 3.5% and this is not without reason. By exporting 25 grams of seed, we replace 2,500 kilograms of potato seed. It is now important for the sector and farmers to gather and exchange knowledge in Kenya and India and a lot of agricultural knowledge. At the end of July, the Kenyan NVWA, Kephis, agreed to distribute three of our varieties.”

Back to crossing resistance. Could this be the solution to combating phytophthora?
“With hybrid breeding, the breeding process is much faster. Potatoes simply don’t want to breed genetically, that’s their natural property. We cracked that code in 2008 and developed it. We’ve now combined varieties with three genes for resistance to phytophthora but we’re also working on resistance to nematodes, for example. It’s not as simple as it might seem, it’s not yet cured in theory, but it’s not that by applying IPM (integrated pest management) and spraying zero to five times a season, you have a sustainable system where the resistance genes are retained for a longer period. “I don’t see a potato without chemicals.”

You’ve talked about this practice before. What varieties do you offer?
“We currently only have table potato varieties in the pack. We breed ourselves and also work with several potato manufacturers to develop varieties for fries, chips and crisps. Since 80% of all potatoes worldwide are for direct consumption, this is our focus. Until now, potatoes have been first grown into plants and then transplanted, which is laborious and adds complexity, which is why we are also working on direct seeding. You can also plant them in 75cm ridges in the first few weeks which are crucial for the small crop once planted, they grow like a traditional crop and climate race.

Solynta is focused on gaining market share. What is the biggest stumbling block to achieving this?
“It is very difficult to export seed potatoes at the moment. Simply because they are not listed. Potatoes are tuber, not seeds, as you hear. Or they ask for a 5,000 kilo sample. And there you can get the whole world, even within the EU. Exporting is still surprisingly difficult. The Netherlands, which has a tradition of animal husbandry, is expected to welcome and support the technology, and vice versa. This takes time, but if we fail, it has to be done. Companies will not continue to develop it. The current breeding method is unpredictable and irregular. As for hybrid potatoes from seed, this is a thing of the past – we believe it is no different for potatoes.”