Castrolanda and UPL Brasil award winners of the 11th edition of ‘Meu Pé de Batata’

Last week, members of the region's potato farming chain met the big winners of the 11th edition of the Meu Pé de Batata competition, held by Castrolanda with the support of UPL Brasil. The event took place at Castro Clube de Campo, after two years without being held, due to the pandemic.

The competition rewards potato growing enthusiasts who, over the course of six months, took the best care of a pot with a potato plant. The seed and substrate for planting were delivered in September last year to 110 people, including members, members' employees and Castrolanda employees – especially from the Batata Business Area.

The objective, according to the area's executive manager, Cassiano Carrano, is to promote potato cultivation and, at the end of the cycle, promote a moment of fraternization between all parts of the production chain.

“Those interested take home a pot, a substrate and a potato seed. There they take care of it as if it were a flower vase: they can add fertilizer, irrigate and do anything that could result in a gain in productivity”, explains the executive manager.

After six months of cultivation, the pot with the potato plant returns to those responsible for the organization, who record the plant's productivity. “A few hours before the event, participants return the vases to us so that productivity can be quantified. We took what was produced in the pot and transformed it into a calculation that would result in productivity per hectare”, says Cassiano.

The best participants are rewarded by the cooperative and UPL. In this year's edition, the big winner was Carlos Petroski, who works with potatoes on the property of a Castrolanda member. “It’s the first time I’ve participated and I was very pleased with the result. I took care of the potato plant with great care and dedication, I continued applying the same pattern to the pot that we used in farming,” he says. Petroski took home a 43-inch television.

UPL Paraná SUL Unit Manager, Guilherme Garcia considers the proposal made in Castrolanda to be innovative. “It’s a project in which we get the involvement of the entire chain, from field staff, owners, cooperative members and the cooperative’s technical staff. We carry out the entire production chain process here, ending with a moment of celebration", he explains.

President of Castrolanda, Willem Bouwman highlighted the importance of the event for promoting the potato chain in the region. “It starts as a competition, but ends in a big get-together. For the participants, it is something quite different, as it promotes healthy competition between them, where each one uses a different technique, which is then shared with other people”, says the president.