•
POTATO SCIENCE LIVE
•
THE
VEGETABLE
FARMER •
MARCH 2017
rainfastness. It’s rainfast within
15minutes,” he added.
“Revus provides excellent
protection against blight,” says
Mr Dyas. “In our demonstration
trial, conducted and assessed by
Eurofins in Derbyshire in 2016,
it was the top performing
product compared to the likes
of Valbon, Invader, Infinito and
Ranman Top.”
In regard to predicting blight
outbreaks in the UK, he
explained that the traditional
Smith Periodmodel dated back
some 60 years, but has recently
been fine-tuned by the James
Hutton Institute. As a result,
potato growers and
agronomists are now better
prepared to cope withmore
‘aggressive’ blight strains with
the new Syngenta website
BlightCast warnings – tailored
on infections now typically
occurring earlier in the season
at cooler temperatures.
Refrigeration stores –
what you need to know
According toMike Sharp, of
agricultural crop storage
specialistsWelvent, there are
approximately 2,000 potato
stores in the UK storing 3-
3.5million tonnes of crop
averaging about 1,500t per
store.
He said this was an aging fleet
– particularly box stores
containing long term processing
and packing varieties that
tended to be fittedwith old
refrigeration if at all. “New
varieties havemore expensive
energy requirements tomeet
tougher and tougher
standards,” he said. “For the
processing sector a new potato
store built today will be very
different to even ten years ago.”
To comply with the latest CIPC
(chlorpropham) regulations for
box stores, the way CIPC is
applied depends onwhether the
store has positive ventilation,
i.e. whether the ventilating air
(and fog) can be forced through
the potatoes, rather than simply
passed around them. The
temperature in the storemust
be as uniform as possible prior
to treatment, requiring the air
to be re-circulated around the
store (without cooling) ideally
overnight but for aminimum
of 6 hours before the
application.
Mike Sharp saidmodern
existing box stores suit new CIPC
regulations. In regard to active
recirculation, a plenumwith a
plate fan and inverter drive can
produce satisfactory results.
However, he warned than a
plenumwould not suit every
store and there were Health and
Safety issues to consider, while
StrawsonWalls (Sunctionwall)
offered an alternative.
“It makes no sense to fit a fan
without an inverter,” says Mr
Sharp. “The Inverter slows the
fan during CIPC application and
improves overall energy
efficiency.” He explained that
variable speed control can
match performance to the job
and a control system can
selectively use suitable ambient
conditions. “It can optimise use
of cheaper rate tariffs,” he
explained; “instead of switching
on and off every two hours or
so.”
With regard to carbon
dioxide, he saidmost growers
were blissfully unaware. In new
potato stores increased levels
aremore likely to become a
problem leading to sweetening
and black heart. “If the levels
are too high you need to fit a
small fan and have a constant
bleed out of the store,” he
advised.
As to refrigerants, Mr Sharp
reminded growers that a 1500t
store with typically 90kilo of
refrigerant (equivalent to 6,000
domestic refrigerators) should
be leak checked every six
months; and stores withmore
than 90kilo every threemonths.
He ended by advising growers
to benchmark, tomonitor their
energy use comparedwith
others, and check their
insulation using thermal
imaging to identify any air
leakage.
Grimme - new facilities
andmachines
Withmanufacturing
concentrated at the company’s
Damme HQ in Germany,
Grimme UKworks with 27
dealerships and has now
evolved its own UK retail
business with branches in York,
Fife, Shrewsbury and
Swineshead.
During a tour of Grimme UK’s
extensivemodern facilities at
Swineshead, Aftersales Manager
Russell Button said, “Since
2000, our customer base has
shrunk from 12,000 to plateau
around 2,000 – although the
21
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