Plant Breeding

Our seed production unit is focused on supplying varieties which meet and improve our customers’ requirements.  To enhance our service to customers and provide better returns to our growers, we are seeking to improve on the currently available varieties.

 

To bring a new variety to the market place requires long term investment.  We believe that with our understanding of crisping, chipping and prepack requirements we can provide the most efficient means of evaluating new varieties, as well as providing huge potential sales volume due to our scale of operations.

 

As one of only 3-4 companies investing in Primary crosses and cross-pollination, our programme is producing National Listed varieties regularly.  This investment is enhanced with a R & D centre at Ardgye, Morayshire and is complimented by a substantial trials programme throughout Europe, North Africa, the Middle East and Asia.

 

We have a long term partnership with the James Hutton Institute, an international research centre based in Dundee.  The Institute maintains the Commonwealth Potato Collection, a genebank of landrace and wild potatoes, which they can access to breed and develop new varieties.

 

We take the product of primary potato crosses and carry out all progeny testing and subsequent evaluation in house.

 

In 2006, we obtained National Listing for the crisping variety Olympus.  Independent tests have shown the variety to produce very low levels of acrylamide during processing. 

It produces good yields with very stable sugars for long term storage.  It is now approved by the majority of processors in the UK and on the continent.  In 2012, 2 ware varieties Bremner and Safiyah were listed.  Both varieties have produced large yields in North African trials.

 

In 2014, we anticipate three varieties, 2 crispers and one part-coloured will be listed after 2 years of trials.

 

Some of our as yet unnamed lines are shown below: