Potato Days is a spectacular event that is held every year in the Emmeloord-Joure areas in the Netherlands. It is a 3-day event, usually the second week in November, when the Dutch potato-breeding companies as well as a few companies from Germany and Denmark, open their doors to showcase new potato varieties.
Tuber samples are on display, and there are brochures with information on agronomy, tuber quality and pest resistance. Dr Eugenia Banks, a consultant for the Ontario Potato Board in Canada attended this event recently and says that “for the first time I saw second growth on some varieties, caused by the unusually hot, dry summer in 2018.”
Nevertheless, Dr Banks was delighted to look at new potato varieties on display from many of the main potato breeding companies in the Netherlands, Germany and elsewhere in Europe. Here is a report on her visit to Potato Days in the Netherlands.
