Opportunities to open for spud growers

POCATELLO, Idaho - Future opportunities for Idaho potato farmers lie in growing for new markets, using new business models and adopting new technology, said an agriculture professor for the University of Idaho in Moscow. Joseph Guenthner, past president of the Potato Association of America, said new markets include other countries that are planting more potatoes. “Growth in rich countries or developed countries is slow growth n less than a half a percent a year,” Guenthner said Thursday at the University’s 38th annual Potato Conference in Pocatello. “The most rapid growth in terms of consumption demand is coming from developing countries n poor countries, especially the two most heavily populated countries in the world, India and China.” Meanwhile, a key new business model is the supply-management system provided by the new United Potato Growers of Idaho and related groups elsewhere in the United States and Canada. He said the group puts significant market power in growers’ hands. Another potential growth area in technology is for genetically modified, or GM, potatoes. Despite a difficult start due to opposition from Greenpeace and others, the technology is likely to eventually take hold, he said. That’s because of demand from developing countries that need food or want to save on production costs. “People who come from Africa say the biggest pro-GM force is hunger. The people are starving, they’re desperate for new technology to put food in their belly,” he said. “That powerful force is bringing GM to that continent.” Another issue propelling its use is the money it saves on pesticides and production. In Brazil, use of GM soybeans was illegal, he said. But farmers planted them anyway with seed from Argentina, where the technology was legal. It was planted so widely that Brazil changed its law to allow GM soybeans. “So I see that as another force that’s bringing GM technology to other countries,” Guenthner said. “Where it’s illegal now, the growers will grow it anyway and the law will be changed.” He said he believes that even European countries, which have been reluctant to allow GM technology, will eventually adopt it, too. Otherwise, they’ll get left behind economically. He also points to a new product called Talent from a company called Luxan. The company says the caraway oil-based product regulates sprouting during storage of seed potatoes. It also says the award-winning product allows higher storage temperatures and improves seed performance. “There are other new technologies coming, and I see opportunities to make money on some of them,” Guenthner said. Another fresh business model is global farming. That involves producers from Idaho and elsewhere being invited by processors to live and grow spuds in other countries. “So there’s an opportunity to be a farmer, not just in the neighboring county or neighboring state, but all over the world,” he said. Another business prospect is in the potential for large food retailers to form supply-chain management systems to trace the origins of their products. “People want to know where the crop is coming from,” Guenthner said. “So here in the future will be opportunities to hitch your wagon to McDonald’s, Wal-Mart. The big sellers of food will set up supply-chain management to satisfy consumer interest in where their food is coming from.” Also, farmers might get connected with companies and cooperatives that have propriety methods of growing, storing and marketing potatoes. “I think we're about to see more of that, with these longer marketing chains controlled by entities, including some grower controls,” he said. Meanwhile, in the area of new technology, farmers who are hooked into the right companies can benefit from proprietary products. For example, some Idaho farmers are growing the proprietary Klondike Rose Red Skin Golden Potato for Potandon Produce LLC, of Idaho Falls, which is the largest marketer of fresh potatoes and onions in North America, according to its Web site. Also, an Australian biotech company called Technico in Moss Vale, New South Wales, has created a new “Technituber” seed that has significant advantages over standard potato seed, he said. The company produces mini seed potatoes from virus- and pathogen-free nuclear materials year round in protected environments to speed production, said Technico’s Web site. So it can produce affordable seed for new varieties after just two or three field generations. That compares to the current industry standard of six to eight field generations, according to Technico’s Web site. “But it’s stuff they don’t share, for anybody who doesn’t sign a contract with them,” Guenthner said. He said Technico is selling the seed n which is cheaper to store and transport because it’s so small n around the world. That includes countries such as China and India, which have huge potential for market growth compared to more developed countries. “I see opportunities to hook up with companies like that,” he said. "Source":[ http://www.checkbiotech.org/root/index.cfm?fuseaction=news&doc_id=12093&start=11&control=179&page_start=1&page_nr=101&pg=1]

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