Potato storage … entering a new era as of the 2020-2021 season!
The European Commission recently decided to revoke approval for chlorpropham (CIPC) a substance long known, on the basis of a report that was published on the website of EFSA (the European Food Safety Agency).
Luckily, in cooperation with Flanders’ Food (the Flemish spearhead cluster for the food industry), a few years ago Belgapom, the Belgian potato trade & processing industry association, together with its members invested in the RESKIA project, which investigated alternatives for CIPC for storing varieties that are cultivated in Belgium both for the fresh and the processing sectors.
The results of this research can be consulted on the website https://www.flandersfood.com/projecten/reskia.
This means that CIPC may be used for the last time for the storage of potatoes during the current season of 2019-2020. As of 1 July 2020, the use of CIPC will no longer be permitted in Belgium (not even as a herbicide for onions)! The end date for the use of CIPC in other member states may vary, but chlorpropham may NO LONGER be used anywhere in the European Union as of 8 October.
NO more CIPCs allowed as of the season of 2020-2021!
As of the following storage season (harvest of 2020), the storage of ware potatoes will enter a new era. In view of the ban on chlorpropham, it will not be possible for either the trade sector or the processing industry to buy potatoes from the 2020 harvest that have been treated with chlorpropham. That is why all growers are being called on urgently to no longer treat the 2020 harvest with chlorpropham.
The transition to the new storage regime is accompanied by a series of challenges for the entire potato sector, varying from effective germination inhibition with the aid of alternative products to a large-scale cleaning operation for storage units that have a chlorpropham past.
In cooperation with the national federations of half a dozen countries, the European Potato Processors' Association, EUPPA, currently has a number of ongoing projects, for example to gain more insight into how storage units can be cleaned effectively. For Belgium, this is being organised by Belgapom in collaboration with its member companies in the processing sector.
The test results will be shared with the European Commission with an eye to obtaining a temporary MRL, a necessary instrument to avoid calamities on the basis of historical contamination. After all, exceeding the likely detection limit will lead to destruction of the entire batch stored. So a temporary maximum residue level (tMRL) is crucial.
Schedule cleaning old storage units in the 2020 shoulder season now
Belgapom is also focussing on further cooperation with all the partners in the potato chain to continue informing the growers of good practices, both with regard to using alternatives and cleaning procedures for storage units.
In many cases, growers will have to invest in new technology to apply the alternative, approved substances. The Flemish government, on a proposal by Belgapom, has made additional funds available to growers for this via the VLIF [Flemish agricultural investment fund].
It is clear that all storage units, just as the means of transport, will have to be cleaned very thoroughly to avoid cross-contamination of potatoes in the next few years.
Perhaps the demand for the industrial cleaning of storage units in our country and throughout the EU in the 2020 shoulder season will increase exponentially. It is therefore advisable to make the necessary appointments for this well on time.
Source : Belgapom
