For the second year in a row, Greenbridge Managing Director, Omar Doughan, and Solynta’s Business Development Manager, Rian Stekelenburg, met to begin working together on cultivating potatoes from hybrid true potato seed (HTPS) in Egypt.

This method of growing potatoes is appealing to Greenbridge since HTPS can be a crucial component in lowering Egypt’s yearly importation of large amounts of seed tubers. The variability in seed tuber quality and the unpredictability of obtaining the appropriate quantity are the drawbacks of the current tuber-based approach.

“2023 in particular turned out to be a bad year for seed tuber importers. Due to weather conditions in the EU during the growing seasons, yields are low, and tubers are often not in the right size. Consequences are shortages of available seed tubers and a very high price. Hybrid true potato seed is a good alternative to the reliance on the volatile seed tuber trade in this region,” according to a recent Solynta release.

Plantlets were moved to a field close to El Minya, Egypt. The harvest was completed after about 120 days, yielding a good 40 tons/ha yield.

“This is quite a promising result, considering that this was our first ever large trial involving growing potatoes from plantlets. Small plantlets require a little extra attention and care at the beginning of the growth cycle, but eventually, the result is beyond our expectations,” Omar Doughan said.

The first potato variety to be grown in Egypt, according to Stekelenburg, is just the beginning of a wider range of potato variations.

“One of the big advantages of hybrid potato breeding is that we can breed new varieties within two to five years. This means that every year, we will be developing and testing even better-yielding, more robust varieties. Also, targeted breeding is possible, depending on customer and geographic requirements. Eventually, we will have a large portfolio of robust varieties, suited to meet the high expectations of every market around the world and every climate zone. We are now at the start of an exciting path to introduce our innovative products and a new production system to the world,” he added.

A portion of the gathered tubers will be used by Greenbridge for their upcoming winter potato growth cycle. As demonstrated by earlier trials conducted in other nations, an even larger yield is anticipated from these G1 tubers.

“We are excited to try this new potato-growing system in Egypt. By growing potatoes from tiny true potato seeds, we can avoid seed tuber price fluctuations and low-quality starting material. That’s a big advantage for farmers and also allows the potato growing sector in Egypt to innovate and improve sustainable agricultural practices. We are especially interested in the future varieties, which will have enhanced resistance to diseases and pests. We are building our knowledge and experience with these hybrid potatoes now, so we are ready to scale up immediately as soon as the right variety is ready for the market. We are eager to continue working with Solynta and gain experience with growing potatoes from hybrid true seeds, as this is a real game-changer for the potato industry and potato farming communities,” Doughan concludes.

Yield, tuber size, and toughness are crucial requirements for Egypt’s potato farming to generate consistent yields despite the country’s severe climate. The committed staff at Solynta is creating new hybrid potato types that satisfy regional customer and cultural needs as well as a variety of climatic zones.

Egypt is increasingly becoming one of the potato exporters with the fastest rate of growth. In the early months of the year, the EU imports a large amount of newly grown potatoes from this region. Egypt is an intriguing partner for the table market and potato processing sector, accounting for a significant amount of the overall imports from non-EU countries with a total export of 211.000 tons to the EU in the first four months of 2023.