“I can think like a potato”

For Jan-Eric Geersing, potatoes are not plants, but living organisms he understands to his very core. Based on that approach, he built Geersing Potato Specialist, a Dutch breeding company that develops potato varieties resistant to diseases like Phytophthora. In his kitchen, over three cups of coffee, he calls for cooperation, scale, and realism in the pursuit of a sustainable food supply.

After a career in research and crop protection, and inspired by his father's work, Jan-Eric started his own breeding program. His motivation? A desire to reduce disease risks and make the food supply healthier and more sustainable. "I can think like a potato," says Jan-Eric, meaning he approaches the crop as if it were a living thing needing care. Jan-Eric compares his fight against Phytophthora to a set of keys and locks: potatoes currently have only seven 'locks' with which to defend themselves against millions of variants of the disease.

Jan-Eric's first major success was the Marcelle variety, which is resistant to the Y virus. After that, he expanded his activities under the name Geersing Potatoes, with trial fields in the Netherlands and collaboration with Caithness Potatoes in the UK. That led to other varieties, including the French fry varieties Divaa and Marvel and the resistant Cammeo, being added to the variety list. After Brexit, Geersing continued independently, with knowledge sharing as his primary focus.

He says you can only truly progress through cooperation and scale. Organic cultivation alone cannot combat diseases such as Phytophthora. Large companies have the resources to invest in breeding programs, and you need that size to make structural progress. Jan-Eric, thus, advocates for building bridges rather than having opposing ideas.

That goes for politics, too. For 11 years, he was a member of the Flevoland Provincial Council, focusing on sustainable energy, nature, and agriculture. Ultimately, Jan-Eric chose to spend more time with his family, but he remains convinced that cooperation is the key to sustainable solutions.

Jan-Eric is also privately optimistic. Of his four sons, one has joined the family business, another is in the agricultural sector, and the youngest is already showing a passion for farming at a young age. The breeder, though, foresees significant challenges for the future, such as more extreme weather conditions. That is why he emphasizes that highly resistant varieties must be combined with green crop protection. With a 75% reduction in conventional means and the use of biological alternatives, Jan-Eric believes a robust food supply can be secured.

Geersing Potato Specialist
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www.geersingpotatospecialist.com