•
NEWS
•
•
VEGETABLE TRENDS
•
THE
VEGETABLE
FARMER •
FEBRUARY 2017
A potentially important part
of the professional grower’s
plant production programme is
the use of beneficial microbes
andmicrobial biostimulants,
which are likely to become
increasingly employedwithin
field grown vegetables, as
farmers look for alternative
ways to boost yields and quality
with amore limited ‘toolbox’.
According to Lallemand Plant
Care (LPC), onemicrobial
bionutrition product that is
seeing impressive trial results in
potato crops is Rise™ P, which
is marketed by ICL and sold by
their distributors. “Rise P was
trialled in one location on
potatoes by Nelson County Ltd,
andwas seen to improve the
yield to the order of 9.2 tonnes
per hectare,” says Andrew
Gough, from LPC.
In this trial, Rise P was applied
to one hectare with the
fungicide application at
planting, through themiddle of
a field of Markies, with an
untreated control on each side.
An innovative plant growth
promoting ‘rhizobacteria’, Rise
P is a living organism - made up
of aminimum of 2 billion
spores per gram. It is mixed
withwater and applied at a
rate of one kilogram per
hectare, which equates to at
least 2 trillion spores per
treatment.
“Themicrobes have a
symbiotic, or mutually
beneficial, relationshipwith
potato plants. They make
phosphorus more available
through solubilising this
essential nutrient, which can
often be less available than it
needs to be, and this helps start
young plants off well and
encourages continual root
growth in older plants.
Furthermore, the product
increases the bioavailability of
trace elements - especially iron -
which also helps improve plant
growth and health as well as
the production of certain plant
hormones that are crucial for
ideal growth, says Andrew.
“Once the crop plants are
better nourished, which Rise P
significantly promotes, they will
be considerably more
productive. However, the plants
can be prone to not retaining
all of the tubers that they
initiate and this is often
exacerbated by external stress
effects acting on the crop. To
stop this happening, we
recommend the use of IntraCell
which is a powerful stress
relieving biostimulant product
applied following Rise P,” adds
Andrew.
T
hink back to this time last
year. Couldwe ever have
predicted that courgetti
would gain a cult following or
that juicingwould prove it was
more than a passing fad? The
current generation is always
looking for the ‘next big thing’
and, luckily for the vegetable
industry, its attention has turned
squarely to the ground.
TheWaitress Food and Drink
Report 2016was released at the
end of last year. As well as
analysing the past 12months, the
document also casts its eyes
forward and predicts what
consumers will be reaching for on
the shelves during the next year.
And the good news for vegetable
growers is that they won’t to be
falling out of favour anytime soon
as the national obsessionwith
‘clean eating’ shows no signs of
abating.
Rob Collins, WaitroseManaging
Director, said: “Healthy eating is
no longer a bolt-on to howwe
live – it’s an integral part of who
we are. And, withmore than 70%
of us regarding healthy eating as
part of our identity, it’s no longer
something to be coy about, as the
rocketing popularity of seeds and
grains, seaweed and smoothie-
makers demonstrates. Livingwell
is something to celebrate, as is an
increased awareness of the
environment andwaste – we are
all conscious consumers now.”
So, what doWaitress believe we
will be consciously consuming
over the next 12months?
Carb-substitute
vegetables
First up is a huge opportunity
for the vegetable industry - the
‘carb-substitute’. The trend for
shunning bread is demonstrated
by the huge rise in the demand
for gluten-free products last year;
according toMintel, UK-wide sales
of ‘free-from’ foods are forecasted
to grow from £470million in
2015 to £673million by 2020 –
that’s a leap of 43%.
As peoplemove away from
bread, they’re looking for
alternatives - and that’s where
vegetables come in. From
swapping spaghetti for courgetti
andmash potato for cauliflower
mash, vegetable alternatives to
rice and pasta was one of the
biggest trends of 2016 and it
looks certain to carry on into
2017.
IndeedWaitrose is so confident
of this trend that it recently
launched its first ‘riceless
risotto’.‘Mushotto’ is made using
celeriac andmushroom in a
cheesy sauce, toppedwith sliced
roastedmushrooms and steamed
kale.
NicolaWall, Waitrose Ready-
meal Buyer said: “Using
vegetables as carb alternative is a
trendwe’ve seen grow over the
last year and as the popularity
continues to growwe’re really
excited about launching riceless
risotto.”
Aubergine is the latest vegetable
to take its turn in the spotlight -
Waitrose figures reveal that sales
rose 18% last year as consumers
used it to replace burger buns,
make alternative pasta sheets for
lasagna and create aubergine
‘chips’. These statistics also show
that 60% of people claim the
food they eat now is ‘fresher’ and
‘lighter’ than it was five years ago;
these are clearly characteristics
that consumers are looking for in
9
WHAT DOES 2017
HAVE IN STORE
FOR VEGETABLES?
Emily Scaife
looks at predicted trends for the next 12
months that could see demand for certain vegetables
skyrocket.
Waitrose’s latest carb-free,
vegetable alternative offering; a
riceless risotto.
Improvingpotatoquality and
yieldwithmicrobial inputs
Exclusive partnership for Asparagus
Greenic F1
Hazera Seeds UK Ltd have
announced an exclusive
partnershipwith Hargreaves
Plants Ltd for marketing their
exciting new asparagus variety
Greenic F1 (formerly 1021).
The agreement, which started
in 2016, has allowed Hargreaves
to produce crowns of Greenic
F1 for UK asparagus producers
to plant in spring 2017. Hazera
Seeds UK confirm that, as their
official partner,
Hargreaves are the only
crown producer that
can provide commercial
quantities of Greenic F1
for 2017 onwards.
According to Hazera,
Greenic F1 has excelled
in trials over the last
few seasons and they
expect it to challenge
themain established
varieties, providing UK
growers with a high
yielding, top quality
product.
Hazera say that Greenic F1 has done verywell
in trials over recent seasons.
