By the end of the planting season, there is snow in the Tatras, and by the end of the harvesting season, there is already snow on the peaks. And in between, the high-quality production of healthy seed potatoes takes place in the highlands of the Tatra region, EUROPLANT reports.
Photo: EUROPLANT
Under the best conditions, a challenging growing season could be completed in the healthy altitude of the Tatra region in Slovakia. The seedling yields are significantly below last year's level. The reason for this is the very early onset of drought and heat in the past growing season.
"A very low tuber set brings considerable oversize shares, but the share in the seedling grading is very low and the price for oversized goods is too good to use them as seedlings," says Ing. Stanislav Tremko, Managing Director of EUROPLANT slachtitelska spol s.r.o..
"The investments in field, transport and storage technology have proved very valuable this year. We now need significantly less time for harvesting and can thus select the optimal harvest days. The quality of the storage and processing elements is much more stable and better as well," says authorized signatory Vladimir Dzurnak. Josef Pjontek adds: "Many varieties were not able to develop their full potential this year, but we are very satisfied with the performance of the varieties under these difficult conditions. This will help the varieties spread further in the region!"
At the moment, the virus test results are being eagerly awaited. "If they are similar to those of previous years, the naturally healthy situation we find in the Tatra once again shows how important the region can become in the future." Jörg Eggers, as the responsible managing director of EUROPLANT Pflanzenzucht, is certain of this. That is why he is reemphasizing the continued support for seedling production in the Tatra region.