This year, ACI imported the exportable and industrial grade seed potato variety Valencia from Scape Holland, one of the largest seed potato companies in the Netherlands, and marketed it throughout the country. At present it has given very satisfactory results in farmers' fields almost all over the country including Jaipurhat, Rangpur, Rajshahi, Munshiganj, Comilla, Dinajpur. Which has made the potato farmers in the country much more optimistic about the breed.
After hearing about the success of Valencia potato Leon Hanstra, International Account Manager from the Netherlands came to Bangladesh and visited the fields of Valencia potato in various remote areas of Comilla and Munshiganj. During the field visit, farmers, seed dealers, retailers discussed the yield and various traits of the Valencia variety.
The yield test showed that the average yield per hectare of ACI Valencia across the country is about 40 tonnes which is about 37% higher than the homogenous varieties. The variety is marketable in 55-60 days which can be kept upto 85 days. But the hope is that it is capable of yielding up to about 31 tons per hectare in just 55-60 days, which farmers are ensuring more profit by harvesting and selling in advance.
As a result, it is becoming a popular variety among farmers day by day. Also the variety can be stored at room temperature for about 90 days.
The variety has a dry matter content above about 22.5% and an oil absorption capacity below about 3%, making it a very suitable variety for making delicious French fries.
Scab is a common disease in white skin color potatoes in our country, due to which the farmers lose about 20-30% of the yield. Growers can easily avoid this damage as the Valencia variety is tolerant to scab disease.
On the one hand, the Valencia variety is more productive, resistant to diseases, and on the other hand, it is suitable for use in the export industry, so the Valencia variety has caught the attention of potato growers all over the country in a very short time.