In September 2025, Potatoes New Zealand’s Paula Lleras had the opportunity to travel to the Netherlands “the heart of potato innovation”, to attend Potato Europe in Lelystad, visit Wageningen University and Research, as well as take part in the Potato Business School (PBS) in Emmeloord. It was an inspiring trip full of fresh ideas, valuable connections, and practical lessons that she believes can benefit New Zealand potato growers. Here are Paula’s reflections:
Potato Europe 2025 – Innovate, Network, Grow
Held on 3–4 September at Wageningen University’s Field Crops site, Potato Europe brought together growers, researchers, and businesses from around the world. The event focused on innovation, sustainability, and the future of potato farming, featuring live machinery demonstrations – from harvesting to box filling and optical sorting – field trials on new varieties, fertilisation, and crop protection, plus seminars on topics like Integrated Crop Management.
The highlight was the Potato Europe Innovation Award, which went to Croptimal for their Croptiscan 9000 robot, a smart field robot that uses cameras and AI to spot and remove diseased plants.
There was an Innovation Hub where new agritech companies presented groundbreaking innovations, from precision robots to sustainable textile solutions. It was great to see how technology is making potato growing more precise, efficient, and environmentally friendly.
Before the main event, Paula joined the Potato Innovation Tour, visiting local companies such as Fieldworkers, Flikweert Vision, Vegniek, and Verbruggen Palletizing Solutions, which gave her an overview of the practical and concrete application of innovative technology by Dutch inventors and companies in the Flevoland region.
Wageningen University – Research in Action
On 5 September, Paula visited Wageningen University and Research (WUR), one of the world’s leading agricultural science hubs. Hosted by Dr. Theo van der Lee, she toured their greenhouses, phenotyping facilities, and plant health labs to see how research on breeding, disease resistance, and crop health is directly helping farmers. The visit also helped strengthen links between New Zealand and WUR, opening doors for future collaboration.
Potato Business School – Learning from the Best
This course combines theory with practice; every classroom session was followed by a visit to nearby farms and companies to see how it works on the ground. Participants came from all over the world and from diverse backgrounds, sharing their experiences and challenges. Many of these were familiar to New Zealand – soil health, sustainable crop production and protection, smart breeding, climate pressure, and labour shortages.
Takeaways
- Innovation matters
Tools like AI scanners and precision robots can make farming more efficient and sustainable. - Stay connected
Building global networks helps us learn faster and stay competitive. - Quality counts
Strong systems for inspection and traceability are key for seed and export markets. - Shared challenges, shared solutions
The same issues faced in New Zealand are driving research and innovation in Europe.
Looking Ahead
The trip was a reminder that while the potato world is global, the learnings are very local. We can take inspiration from what is happening in places like Flevoland, where technology, research, and grower collaboration go hand in hand, and apply those ideas in New Zealand to keep the industry strong, resilient and future-ready.