PotatoEurope 2018, the event for the international potato industry, returns to Germany on 12th and 13th September. PotatoEurope, which is an annual exhibition, is held in Germany every four years. This top trade fair for potato professionals, organized by the DLG (German Agricultural Society) in cooperation with the German Potato Industry Union (UNIKA), will again take place at Rittergut Bockerode Estate in Springe-Mittelrode, near Hanover.
"We are very pleased that 184 exhibitors from 13 countries have registered so far, which is about 10 percent more than at this stage in 2014," said Peter Grothues, Managing Director of the DLG Exhibitions Department. "All well-known companies in the fields of potato breeding, fertilization, crop protection, and technology for production and processing will join with representatives from the potato trade to provide a unique information service for everyone involved in the sector on the 35-hectare exhibition site.”
Grothues added that the high level of international participation at PotatoEurope 2018 was particularly pleasing. “More than 70 exhibitors, about 40 percent, are attending from outside Germany,” he said. “With 38 companies registered, the Netherlands is well represented, but there will be organizations from other European countries, and also from China and New Zealand. This excellent registration result confirms the status of this special event as the international meeting place of the entire potato industry in 2018.
Ideas, impulses and innovations
PotatoEurope 2018 will be the international information platform for the potato value chain, such as potato growers, equipment manufacturers, consultants and traders. The event is expected to set important accents for modern potato production and processing. Under the theme "Ideas, Impulses and Innovations", for example, potato growers will find first-hand information for the production of high-quality products. In addition, they will receive an important impetus to promote the position of the potato among consumers and to open up new sales potential. Current market knowledge is vital for those involved in the industry as potato cultivation is characterized by a high level of production, processing and marketing; producers of food and processing potatoes move in free markets, so supply and demand alone determine competitiveness.
A special event focusing on the entire potato sector, PotatoEurope 2018 features exhibition stands outside and in tents, machinery demonstrations and experimental plots. Current varieties will be seen growing, as well as trials showing differentiated fertilizer and crop protection strategies, and this will provide farmers with important recommendations for future potato cultivation. In the campus area, exhibitors will present products and services from breeding through production and processing to marketing. Industry, science, research, and agricultural organizations and associations will also be represented there, providing information on varieties, cultivation practices, cultivation advice, potato processing and storage, as well as management and marketing.
Machinery demonstrations
A highlight of this year's PotatoEurope will be the machinery demonstrations. More than 25 hectares is being provided for a variety of different live demonstrations including the latest techniques and procedures for planting potatoes, tuber conservation, harvesting performance and potato handling and loading equipment. In addition, methods of mechanical weed control, such as harrow, hoes or ridgers, will be demonstrated. The demonstrations take place on both days of the exhibition, from 10:00 to 12:00 and again from 14:00 to 16:00.
Meeting point for organic potatoes
In cooperation with the KÖN (Competence Center Ökolandbau Niedersachsen GmbH), the DLG is preparing a special "Organic Potatoes Meeting Point" at PotatoEurope 2018. In this special feature, manufacturers of technology, service providers, associations and organizations will present a broad spectrum of information related to the successful cultivation and marketing of organic potatoes. The focus will be on variety selection, inventory management, harvesting and aspects of marketing. This special feature from DLG and KÖN will provide farmers considering organic conversion, as well as those successfully operating organic farms, a unique information platform.
Optoelectronics and alternative herbicide strategy specials
Other highlights at PotatoEurope 2018 include the "Optoelectronics" special feature, where the focus will be on live demonstrations showing optoelectronic sorting of unwashed potatoes. Manufacturers will show systems for agricultural businesses that allow foreign body sorting, sorting according to size and other defined quality parameters.
In addition, the DLG, in cooperation with the Chamber of Agriculture of Lower Saxony, Dethlingen Experimental Station and the SEG (Lower Saxony Seed Producers Association) will present a special feature on alternative herbicide reduction procedures. Different chemical crop protection strategies will be compared in the test field with various mechanical weeding processes such as flails or plucking and cutting. Visitors will also be able to compare combinations of different processes, as well as seeing the effects of thermal weeding processes, whether using flames or electric current.
Back to Bockerode
PotatoEurope 2018 will be held at Bockerode farm, which also hosted the event in 2006, 2010 and 2014. Near Springe, about 25km south-west of the Hanover, the venue is within easy reach of international visitors via Hannover-Langenhagen international airport and the Hannover-Hauptbahnhof ICE-Station. Overall, the DLG expects about 10,000 visitors during the two days of the event.
The PotatoEurope 2018 trade fair is organized by the DLG with the support of UNIKA. Case IH Agriculture and Steyr Traktoren are technology partners this year. More information is available from Dr. Wilfried Wolf at the DLG on Tel: +49 (0) 69 247 88 272 or Email: w.wolf@DLG.org
Information is also available online at www.potatoeurope.de
