Andries Middag, director of the Association for the Potato Processing Industry (VAVI), does not yet want to talk about a chip crisis. And as far as he is concerned, hoarding fries is not necessary yet. But if the new harvest rules for farmers are not scrapped, the future for chip manufacturers and that of chip lovers in our province will look very different. There will be fewer Dutch potatoes and these potatoes will become more expensive and with them our fries, he predicts.
If Middag continues this negative scenario, this development means that chip manufacturers will start sourcing potatoes from further away. Or that they will even move factories.
And all because farmers are forced to harvest their potatoes earlier due to the new harvest rules. Before October 1: a time when potatoes are not yet ready to be processed, according to Middag. Because they have not yet grown large enough and are not yet strong enough. But also because the skin of the potatoes is not yet thick enough. And it is precisely such a thick skin that is needed to keep potatoes longer.
Because farmers are not yet adhering to the rules this year, the problem is not so bad now. But when the rules don’t change, problems pile up. Farmers are punished if they do not adhere to the harvest rules. If they harvest after October 1, they can fertilize their crops less the following year. This results in poorer quality potatoes, Middag warns.
According to him, chip makers will then have to reject more potatoes. And having to pay more for good potatoes. The result is fewer and therefore more expensive fries. The harvest rules should therefore be abolished quickly if it is up to the chip makers. Afternoon is confident that this will work, he says. In any case, VAVI will commit itself to this. As far as he is concerned, there is still enough time for this before next year’s harvest.
Outgoing Minister of Agriculture Piet Adema has indicated that he will accommodate farmers ‘only for this year’ and will postpone the date of October 1 by two weeks. According to him, the harvest rules are necessary to improve water quality in the Netherlands. The date of October 1 has to do with planting so-called catch crops after the potatoes are out of the ground.
The sooner these catch crops are sown, the more effectively nitrogen is extracted from the soil. And that in turn should improve groundwater quality. The minister has indicated that he will discuss other measures with the sector that could improve water quality.
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