“But it doesn’t have the same
qualities as the Lanorma. It
isn’t such a good chip potato,
but it’s very good for cooking
and making mashed potato.”
The Up-To-Date cultivar is
a niche market product, he
explains, as it is soft when cooked
and absorbs flavours well,
making it a favourite among the
older members of the Indian
community for use in curries.
“You get good money
for it at the market in
KwaZulu-Natal,” he says.
However, demand for the
cultivar is declining among
the younger generation.
Due to this, and its lower
yield potential of around
65t/ ha, Bruwer is considering
dropping this cultivar.PRODUCTION PRACTICES
Botes and Bruwer meet regularly
to ensure that production
practices are optimised; these
include planting dates, plant
density, spray programmes
and precision technology.
Botes says that Lanorma is a
medium-short grower, which
means it is usually ready in
about 90 days, but this can
be extended to 100 days.
“We plant in December because
the frost normally arrives here
around May, and we wantthe crop to
be physiologically
mature by that
time,” he explains.
Bruwer plants seed potatoes
at a higher density than normal
commercial potatoes, spacing
plants at 25cm to 30cm to
achieve about 44 000 plants/ha.
After the bush is cleared, he
applies pre-plant fertilisation,
and fertilises a further eight
times during the growing season.
He also puts down a nematode
mixture in the furrow at planting.
“Nematodes are actually
the primary pests that attack
the potato. When planting,
we apply treatment directly
to the tuber,” he says.
Plants start emerging about
two weeks later, and the
spray programme begins
approximately a month after
planting. At that stage, Bruwer
sprays every 10 days, increasing
to once a week in the last month
of the growing cycle. The spray
programme includes fungicides,
insecticides, herbicides and
leaf nutrition products.TOP:
Lanorma potatoes
fresh from the
earth. The cost
of producing a
hectare of irrigation
potatoes is as much
as R200 000/ha.ABOVE:
Potato marketer at
the agribusiness
GWK, Johann
Botes (left), and
producer Gerhard
Bruwer discuss the
quality of Lanorma
potatoes due to be
harvested soon.
Photos: sabrina Dean2 August 2019 farmer’sweekly 41KimberleyDouglasSchmidtsdriftHopetown