Innovation and Machinery Showcase Set to Transform Potato Industry
As the countdown begins for the upcoming Potato Days UK event, scheduled to take place on 4-5 September, 2024, at Dyson Farming’s Nocton Estate in Lincolnshire, UK, anticipation is building among potato professionals and enthusiasts alike. Organized by the DLG (German Agricultural Society) in collaboration with industry partners, this event promises a comprehensive display of cutting-edge machinery, agricultural solutions, and knowledge exchange opportunities.
Key Highlights of Potato Days UK 2024:
- Innovative Exhibitors: Over 100 exhibitors are gearing up to showcase their latest machinery, crop management practices, and technological solutions to cater to the evolving needs of the potato industry.
- Field Demonstrations: Scheduled over both days of the exhibition, visitors can witness live machinery demonstrations of cultivation, harvesting, cleaning, and loading techniques by renowned brands such as AVR, Dewulf, Grimme, and Standen.
- Trial Plots: Exhibitors have set up trial plots featuring advanced technologies in weed reduction, crop protection, different varieties, and irrigation systems, allowing attendees to explore the latest agronomy methods up close.
- Indoor Marquee – “The Potato Days Hall”: An indoor exhibition space will showcase a wide range of services including inputs, storage solutions, packaging innovations, and processing technologies.
- Engaging Programme: Attendees can participate in informative talks, workshops, and networking sessions with over 100 industry suppliers, fostering collaboration and knowledge sharing within the potato farming community.
Potato Industry in the UK and DLG’s Initiatives:
- UK Potato Industry: With a cultivation area of 137,000 hectares and an annual harvest of around 5.5 million tons, the UK stands as the fourth-largest potato growing region in Western Europe, following Germany, France, and the Netherlands.
- DLG’s Potato Events: The DLG, renowned for its commitment to offering local expertise to farmers, organizes successful trade fairs for the potato industry globally. In addition to the UK, Potato Days events are held in Turkey, showcasing the latest advancements in potato cultivation and processing. The DLG also hosts PotatoEurope, an international potato industry field exhibition held annually across Belgium, France, Germany, and the Netherlands, featuring trial fields and machinery demonstrations.
At the heart of the British potato region, Nocton Farm, owned by Dyson Farming, will provide a sprawling 20-hectare venue for this transformative event, where industry professionals can explore, learn, and pave the way for a more efficient and sustainable future in potato farming.
The potato is one of the most important food crops in agriculture and in the diet of developing countries; as well as, in developed countries. The potato is native to the Andean region of South America, more specifically between Cusco and Lake Titicaca, Peru and Bolivia (formerly Alto Peru) where a great genetic diversity of cultivated and wild species is found. Within this germplasm of cultivated species, there are more than 6,214 varieties of native sweet and bitter potatoes. Sweet potatoes mostly belong to the species Solanum tuberosum andigenous subspecies, such as: Ccompis, Imilla Negra, Imilla Blanca, Sani Imilla, Ccoillo, Andina, Yungay, San Juan-INIA, Chaska, Cica and others. Bitter potatoes, which are characterized by their high content of glycoalkaloids, are highly tolerant to low temperatures and are well suited for making chuño, tunta or moraya that are very important dehydrated by-products in the diet of the high Andean population and are planted at altitudes above 4,000 meters above sea level. Bitter potatoes belong to the species Solanum juzepczukii such as Piñaza, Ruckii, Locka, K’eta, Parinas, Parkos and Solanum curtilobum such as ocucuris.
What type of extraction, purification and technology should be used to obtain an optimal protein for a dietary supplement?