Under the motto "Planting without breaking the sprouts. Harvest early." the new potato expert meeting was held at ROPA Rheinland on February 1, 2023.
Here, the experts Barbara Kanders (NRW Chamber of Agriculture), Johannes Beckers (Wilhelm Weuthen GmbH), Peter-Heinz Küppers (Böhmer Verpackung und Vertrieb GmbH & Co.KG), Markus Unger (farmsupport GmbH), and Dr. Rupert Geischeder (ROPA Fahrzeug- und Maschinenbau GmbH) discussed opportunities and problems relating to the topic of new potatoes and pre-sprouting with the many people in attendance.
After the podium discussion, the guests continued and intensified the discussions at a joint dinner.
In addition to the specialized discussion, the hand planter for pre-sprouted potatoes exhibited by ROPA was a particular highlight for all visitors. With this new machine, which was displayed for the first time at the ROPA open house on November 22, ROPA is supporting professional new potato cultivators. Thanks to the gentle treatment and minimization of the mechanical load of pre-sprouted potatoes, the sprouts were planted in the ground damage-free with the seed potatoes. Another special focus of the machine was the workplace for personnel. It was equipped optimally with many options in order to make working on the machine as comfortable as possible.
Planting without breaking the sprouts with ROPA planting technology
ROPA's four-row planter can be loaded with up to 5 full pallets on which the pre-sprouted potatoes are stored in boxes. An operator loads the conveyor belts with full boxes of potatoes and ensures that the boxes are returned emptied. 8 operators take the pre-sprouted tubers from boxes on the conveyor belt and put them into the planting belts. Working this way ensures the best possible protection of the pre-sprouted potatoes and allows cultivators to achieve daily yields of about 6 ha. The combination of the gentle treatment of the pre-sprouted potatoes and the precisely adjustable planting distance ensures optimal planting of the potatoes as well as fast and uniform coverage of the field and homogeneous sorting of the crop.
After this discussion with members of the trade public, the new ROPA planting machine for pre-sprouted potatoes was able to win over many new potato producers with its combination of powerful and gentle planting, which does not break the sprouts. In the upcoming weeks, the new machines will prove themselves in practical deployment at new potato cultivators.