As one of Europe's leading potato supply companies, The Higgins Group is continually searching for ways to expand the services it offers to its growers. The company considers its growers as its partners, and its website, www.higgins.eu.com, has recently been updated to incorporate a new page, offering growers a ëcalculating tool' to use when ordering supplies of seed potatoes.
The page processes the information given by the grower, and can make calculations for a number of scenarios. Each seed variety has a different optimum spacing to ensure that the crop meets the market requirements for tuber size and count.
Given the right information ñ seed tonnages, tuber count and row width ñ- the page can make a few separate calculations or a few dozen. It may be something as simple as calculating how much seed to buy for a given field area; or to calculate the effect of reducing populations.
If the grower is offered a seed lot with a known tuber count, he might want to know how many acres it will plant compared to a lot with a different count and price.
It will enable him to calculate the true cost per acre.
Managing director of The Higgins Group David Higgins says: “At a basic level, the new website page will take over the effort of calculating how much seed to buy for a given acreage. It is, however, a much more useful tool.
“At the touch of a button, it allows the user to execute a ëvirtual' field trial ñ to compare results from different sets of circumstances ñ all without leaving the desk.”
The Higgins Group operates from its head office in Finningley, Yorkshire, and has divisions in Lincolnshire, Scotland and France. “The page has gone live to coincide with the latest update of our website and we want as many growers as possible to know about it and to take advantage of it,” Higgins adds.
RIJK ZWAAN UNVEILS ORGANIC RANGE
Rijk Zwaan UK is offering a new range of organic seeds with a host of resistances, which are bred to be suitable for specialist organic growers.
The company has been working towards the launch of this range of organically produced vegetable seeds since 1992. The seeds fully meet organic seed requirements as recognised by all the UK and European certification bodies.
The new varieties have been thoroughly tested and offer the growers the latest advances in pest and disease resistance, as well as combining superior taste and shelf life. Among the lines included are; beans, beetroot, fennel, spinach, leeks, carrot, cucumbers, peppers, tomatoes and lettuce.
In order to evaluate the best varieties the company has a dedicated trial site in Germany as well as demonstration sites in the Netherlands and the UK. Since 1994 Rijk Zwaan has been busy finding dedicated organic seed productions areas, new seed cleaning and packaging facilities. It can now offer a full range of varieties, all produced organically.
The company is registered by SKAL (Stichting Kontrolle Aternatieve Landbouw) for products (seeds) and the process (seed cleaning, sorting and packing). SKAL is a European control organisation founded by the Dutch farming ministry and is accepted by the European Community. It is responsible for regulating seed production throughout Europe. The SKAL control organisation is responsible for the certification and the regulatory control of the companies which produce organic seeds.
Rijk Zwaan's seed production is guaranteed under the biological quality mark and is recognised across Europe. In addition to offering precision or normal organic seed the company can also offer other seed types. An example of this is lettuce in an organic split pill to make sowing or drilling easier.
Rijk Zwaan aims to produce quality seeds to allow growers to produce vegetables suited to organic production while maintaining taste, texture and appearance.
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