Babylon is a yellow-fleshed potato variety and suitable for various markets. Our Product Manager Olaf van Campen will explain more about its virus resistance, storability and its excellent baking quality.
The Babylon variety came about in a rather unique way. The variety was not obtained by the normal crossing procedure, but was instead “found” as a mutant in a field with Agria. Babylon is therefore also one of the multipurpose varieties.
In most cases, mutations do not lead to a new variety and are naturally eliminated. However, when Mr R.K. Bakker from Oudeschip found the unusual plants among his field of Agria plants, he decided to propagate them separately. After two years of propagation, he decided to inform Agrico of his discovery and ask whether we also thought it might have added value. The Agria clone was included in the regular tests at Agrico Research, and after a number of years the mutation was found to be stable and sufficiently deviant from the Agria variety. In order for a mutant to be described and protected, it should have at least three characteristics that differ from the original variety. The Babylon variety turned out to have five such characteristics.
It took a long time to come up with the name of Babylon. An association with the original variety was initially desired, but this led to Babylonian confusion between the grower and Agrico. Eventually, in cooperation with the commercial staff, the name Babylon was chosen.
The best way to guarantee a good harvest and the best return on your investment is to start out with healthy, high-quality seed potatoes and expert advice. At Agrico, we are committed to and invest in knowledge and research. This has enabled us to cultivate a wide range of unique potato varieties that display effective resistance, strong variety characteristics and a high yield. Naturally, the seed potatoes we supply are fully certified.
If you have any specific questions about the Babylonor would like to know what Agrico can do for you with respect to varieties, please feel free to contact us.