No-nonsense, no-frills potato news stories from around the world
Vanmark, an industrial potato and produce processing equipment manufacturer, today announced the launch of its vine remover machine. The new machine removes vines from potatoes as they come in from the field. Potato vines often get caught in receiving and transferring equipment, plugging it up and causing costly downtime for processors.
The funding will support PoLoPo’s technology platform, starting with replicating ovalbumin, the protein found in egg white. The company says it expects to have prototypes in the coming 18 months, including protein-rich potato tubers and ovalbumin functional samples. PoLoPo says its ovalbumin will be identical to chicken egg ovalbumin in terms of functionality, nutritional value, and protein sequence.
University of Manchester scientists have created a new material, dubbed ‘StarCrete’ which is made from extra-terrestrial dust, dehydrated potatoes, and a pinch of salt – and it could be used in future to build homes on Mars, according to a news release issued by the University this week. StarCrete has a compressive strength over twice as strong as ordinary concrete. Starcrete made from moon dust is even stronger.
With the Puma 4.0 AVR introduced a robust, high-tech harvester. “On our journey to further perfect the Puma 4.0, we have provided the several upgrades for the 2023 Pumas,” the company recently announced in a press release. Some of these include a major software upgrade of the ACC digging unit’s depth control mechanism, and the AVR Comfort Drive, which is now standard on the 2023 Puma 4.0
In restaurants, at home and in the food industry, frying is one of the most common methods of food preparation. It is a technique used all over the world. But because of the risks of a high-fat diet, modern day consumers are increasingly looking for more nutritious and safer food alternatives. Air fryer technology has appeared on the market in recent times.
Haith Group has appointed Remach BV to represent it in Holland and Belgium. Duane Hill, Haith’s managing director, says the two companies have a great deal in common. Remach’s owner, Krijn van Groningen says his company is pleased to become the exclusive importer and dealer of Haith Group machinery for the Netherlands and Belgium.
The Spanish University of Alicante’s Waste, Energy, Environment and Nanotechnology (REMAN) research group has developed a process to obtain a water-soluble plastic material based on potato starch. It will soon be introduced on the market through the UA technology-based company Solublion. This new material is also compostable and biodegradable, so it is suitable for use as a flexible film, preferably in bags and packaging, and has great advantages over existing materials.
Simplot sought a complete turnkey solution for their french fries production line in Tasmania. Fortunately, TOMRA Food offered sorting solutions that could be integrated with some of Simplot’s existing equipment. The sorting solutions offered by TOMRA Food enable Simplot to adjust their sorting procedures according to specific standards, ensuring they meet their customers’ targets while maintaining flexibility.
Grainne Dilleen, a researcher at South East Technological University in Ireland, is conducting a Ph.D study to investigate the internal and external factors that influence farmers’ intention to adopt Smart Farming Technology (SFT). Specifically, she is interested in the role of trust in technology providers and the influence of the farmer’s network on the adoption decision. Grainne looks forward to hear from potato farmers worldwide.
No-one likes weeding, but new technology is helping farmers around the world tackle weeds in a more efficient and environmentally friendly way, as David Silverberg reports in a news report for BBC News. Deanna Kovar from US farming equipment giant John Deere says that the company’s new tractor-pulled weed sprayer can reduce herbicide use by two thirds. For farmers elsewhere in the world, a number of rival firms, both large and small, have developed similar smart-weeding technologies.
Newtec recently announced that it will showcase its innovative LASER FLOWPACK700 packaging solution at the upcoming MacFrut event, taking place from May 3rd to May 5th at the Rimini Expo Centre in Italy. The machine is a state-of-the-art, fully automatic laser welding solution that is ideal for ultra-thin film packaging applications, including fruits and vegetables such as potatoes and carrots.
Eric Simoens is an arable farmer and owner of Hove Ter Hille in Jabbeke, located in the polder region near the Belgian coast. Last year, Mr. Simoens’ farming operation experienced serious problems dealing with an excess of soil and dirt clods during and after the potato harvest. To solve the dirt problem and clean the potato crop before storage, Eric Simoens’ farming operation contacted TOMRA and eventually acquired a TOMRA 3A sorting machine with excellent results.
A Pune-based startup in India claims to have created the world’s first recycled sunglasses made from empty packets (bags) of chips. Founder Anish Malpani says on his Twitter channel: “We just made the world’s first recycled sunglasses from ‘impossible-to-recycle’ plastic waste – metalised packets of chips. And this is just the start.”
Swedish design studio Tomorrow Machine has collaborated with juice company Eckes Granini to develop a bio-based bottle called GoneShells, which is made from potato and can be eaten, home-composted or dissolved under water when finished with. GoneShells was inspired by the way a fruit is protected by its peel. Once finished with, the bottle can be wound down in the same way thanks to its spiral-like structure. Then, it can be eaten, home composted or dissolved in a kitchen sink.
Diagnosing latent infections in their early stages is challenging since they do not present any external visual symptoms, making detection, tracking, and control difficult. The existing detection methods are time-consuming, destructive, and have limited sensitivity for detecting early-stage infections. However, a team of researchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem has developed biosensors that are tailored to detect infected potatoes during storage.
Leading British potato supplier Cockerill has recently expanded their crate- and box loading capacity. With the commissioning of the third Lan Handling crate and box loader, their handling capacity increases to a total of up to 240 bags per minute, using these three production lines. Thanks to the successful implementation of these production automation solutions, Cockerill is currently exploring the possibilities for further automation of their packaging lines.
TOMRA Food treated visitors to its stand at Fruit Logistica Berlin last week (Berlin, 8-10 February) with 3D footage of its sorting, grading, and packing solutions in action, and gave a presentation on the event’s Tech-Stage. The company illustrated how the food industry can benefit from Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning. TOMRA Food showcased solutions from both its business areas, TOMRA Fresh Food and TOMRA Processed Food.
Agriculture tech can drive more inclusive and sustainable growth for farmers, but only if agtech start-ups make a concerted effort to address farmers’ persistent challenges about agtech solutions, according to research by leading global consultancy, McKinsey & Company. The latest report from McKinsey’s Agriculture practice, Agtech: Breaking down the farmer adoption dilemma, identifies the barriers holding farmers back from using agtech more widely.
HarvestEye is set to launch the newest version of its industry leading machine-learning driven root crops insights tool at Fruit Logistica, the world’s largest fresh produce trade fair. Fitting to harvesting or grading equipment, HarvestEye is a low-cost method to deliver performance data on the size, shape, quality and mapping variability of root crops, which is currently compatible with potatoes and onions.
The Leaf Evaluated-Nutrient System (LENS) from Picketa is the first step in the company’s quest to solve nutrient management problems for potato growers through the increasing supply chain and climate challenges. Over the last year, Picketa staff have worked on developing the LENS management system. The LENS system launched a month ago, on November 15th, marking almost two years of scientific research and development.
Scotts Precision Manufacturing, one of the UK’s leading manufacturers of vegetable cleaning and harvesting equipment, will attend the Fruit Logistica show in Berlin next week, 8 – 10 February. The event is expected to bring together more than 2,000 exhibitors from 87 countries. Other than the Evolution Separator, Scotts will also be revealing details on its 2023 revisions of the Microlift Pro windrower, cabbage de-leafing system and the company’s range of Trinity haulm toppers.
The production of potato waffles led Birds Eye to contact LIMAB UK in 2021, wanting to source a moisture and fat analyzer. NDC product specialist at LIMAB UK, Kevin Goodison suggested they use the InfraLab Food Analyzer. “The potato waffles are now the crispiest that they have ever been and are now Birds Eye’s star product,” says Nigel Jackson, Process Technologist at Birds Eye.
From January 24 – 26, Restrain will be exhibiting at the Manitoba Potato Production Days Conference & Trade Show in Canada. Restrain is a manufacturer and distributor of ethylene generators. Restrain generators control sprouting in post-harvest potatoes, in a more natural way than any other agri-chemical method. Restrain is a natural sprout inhibitor based on the natural gas ethylene.
Haith, a leading manufacturer of vegetable handling solutions in the UK, will be promoting its innovative mobile optical sorter at the Fruit Logistica event next month (8-10 February). The PRO-Sort optical sorter was developed by Haith in partnership with GRIMME UK and automates the removal of stone, clod and foreign debris from potatoes. Capable of handling up to 100 tonnes per hour with high levels of accuracy thanks to the integral TOMRA 3A optical sorter, the PRO-Sort is proving popular with growers faced with labour shortages.
crop.zone, the specialist company for herbicide-free haulm desiccation, continues to focus on new partnerships and cooperation. With Tobias Menne as a new member of the advisory board, the company has now gained an important expert in this field. Tobias Menne recently set-up the SmartFarming joint venture between BASF and BOSCH. He now contributes his extensive professional expertise to the crop.zone supervisory board.
In this Idaho Farm Bureau podcast, Steven Sherman, BioLogiQ’s CEO, shares details of BioLogiQ’s NuPlastiQ, a 100% natural material made from potato, corn and tapioca starches and naturally sourced glycerin, which, when processed, produces pellets that can be blended with existing plastics. These BioBlends help to create more sustainable plastic products.
Tong Engineering is pleased to announce its appointment as UK distributor for Dutch palletising solutions manufacturer Verbruggen. “Verbruggen is renowned for manufacturing first-class palletising and stacking solutions with excellent product support. We have successfully collaborated on a number of projects with Verbruggen in the past,” says Simon Lee, Sales Director at Tong Engineering.
Two alternative means of desiccating potato crops were trialled during the 2022 season and both machines offer potential, although more work is planned to optimise use in British conditions, as Adam Clarke reports in an extensive article for Farmers Weekly. In his article, Clarke reports in depth on CropZone’s hybrid electric weeder and the Vegniek Discmaster haulm puller.
Zweifel Pomy-Chips AG has been the leading potato chip manufacturer in Switzerland for many years. Every day, tons of raw material from Swiss fields are processed into high-quality, crispy chips for the food retail trade throughout Switzerland. For the water-intensive washing process, Zweifel has been relying on the innovative recirculation system from VAM Watertech for about five years.
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