Looking For Seed Potatoes

[Broceliande]

Hi everyone,

First time I write on this forum, even though I already read many topics here which were very useful.

I am starting a farm (organic) in Western Laos, at the border with Thailand, Loei Province (so I am not truly "thai", I hope you won't bother ). We are going to produce vegetables, fruits, cattle, pigs and chicken. For all the productions we target high-end markets, especially restaurants, hotels and minimarts in capital city and Luang Prabang. Then export markets in a second stage. But this would be another topic, I can talk about us another time.

So, as some of you may know, it is not easy to find any farming equipment in Laos (not only farming equipment actually...), especially for irrigation, seeds (vegetables, B. ruziziensis, Stylo, etc), seedlings (avocado, litchi, pomelo, pineapples, dragon fruits, etc), etc.

But what I really cannot lay hands on are seed potatoes (not true seeds). I mean Irish potatoes, not sweet ones.

We don't want "manufacturing" varieties (for chips or fries), like Kennebec or Atlantic. I am rather looking for seed potatoes for "table" use, such as roasted or boiled potatoes. The two main varieties apparently used in Thailand (forget about Laos...) for this purpose are Bintje and Spunta. But I am open to try any other same type variety, maybe even more suited to our common conditions.

Does anybody now where I could find these varieties? Either importing companies, seed producers, or even farmers who could sell their small potatoes?

I think Chiang Mai is kind of a "potato producing area", but I am afraid it is mainly for manufacturing ("Lay's" chips).

Thanks for your help!

[Jotham79]

For a first try, I would go with what Thais grow. The ones I have bought in the market here in Petchabun work well cooked any way you want. If I wanted seed potatoes, i would buy a few kilo, put them in a paper bag under my sink and wait a month or so. I would proably wait till the end of the rainy season and try to grow during the cool season.

Jotham

[cooked]

'Seed potatoes' are potatoes that have been cultivated in northern (or southern if you are Australian) latitudes where many diseases are not around because of the low temperatures and so don't get transmitted. (As far as I know). We tried planting a few from the market, they grew well enough and then committed suicide. I have developed a preference for good Isaan rice anyway, if I have an urgent desire for chips i go buy a few spuds at the market. The fact that the potatoes you see on the market are not sprouting is due to their being treated with a weed killer - bon appetit!

You might want to try yams and sweet potatoes.

[Broceliande]

Thanks for the replies Jotham and Cooked.

Actually our farm is 95 ha, of which I keep about 1 hectare for "vegetables" (including Irish potatoes, as it will be sold through the same channel, for the same customers). And for potato "seeds", I would need about 450 kg, so a few kgs from the market wouldn't be enough ... I know we could use normal "market" potatoes, and even cut in 1 or 2 pieces, leaving an eye on each part for sprouting. But that wouldn't give the best results, and it would be hard to know which variety it is. And I agree with Cooked, the potatoes are most often sprayed with pesticides before storage (I would rather think anti-sprouting chemicals and fungicides than herbicides).

I do agree with the fact that the best is to grow varieties that already proved to be suited to our pedo-climatic conditions. Especially for Organic farming, which is more vulnerable to pests and diseases. So I look for "Thai adapted"/"Thai proven" varieties. And that's also what I keep in mind for the choice of our fruits varieties (Avocados, Litchis, Pomelos, Mangoes, Pineapples, Dragon Fruits, Passion fruits), and our future animals breeds, but that's another topic .

So for Potatoes, that's why I don't want to import any "well known" variety directly from Australia, Scotland or the US, unless it was tried and proved successful enough in Thailand. From what I read, I think that was the case of Spunta and Bintje varieties. But others could have past the test though, I'm more than open for others experiences.

BTW, some months back on this forum, I think I saw posts of someone who has a potato farm in Thailand, I guess around Chiang Mai, the main growing area. But I can't find the topic and the name of that man anymore ... It would help me to get some contacts at least.

[NeverSure]

'Seed potatoes' are potatoes that have been cultivated in northern (or southern if you are Australian) latitudes where many diseases are not around because of the low temperatures and so don't get transmitted. (As far as I know). We tried planting a few from the market, they grew well enough and then committed suicide. I have developed a preference for good Isaan rice anyway, if I have an urgent desire for chips i go buy a few spuds at the market. The fact that the potatoes you see on the market are not sprouting is due to their being treated with a weed killer - bon appetit!

You might want to try yams and sweet potatoes.

Maybe he wants to experience that himself. There are so many soil born diseases that are killed by frost. Blight, wart, leaf roll, some fungus some actually virus...