Inside Potatoes
Belgian potato growth comes to a standstill
Especially in the middle and north of the Netherlands, some potato crops can benefit from regrowth. This shifts the situation to the south, towards Belgium and northern France. That's where the potato crops fail. This is the picture of the trial harvesting figures for week 36.
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Choose the subscription that suits youSignificant rain fell in the central Netherlands in particular in the past 2 weeks; locally, the monthly sum sometimes even fell within a few hours. This brings the counter to 120 to 130 millimeters. In the southwest, east and northeast the average is much less. It also rained little in Belgium and Northern France. This has consequences for the potato yield.
Growth at Aviko
De trial harvesting figures from Aviko Potato still show some degree of regrowth in week 36. In week 35 it was just below 50 gross tons per hectare and is now slightly above that. The result is therefore about 5 tonnes per hectare below the previous lowest result. The percentage 50 millimeters upward increases little. For the first time in 5 weeks, an increase in underwater weight can be seen again.
Van der Linde trading house in Emmeloord has published the latest yield figures for this season; these refer to week 37. The average over the 5 plots amounts to 55,78 gross tonnes per hectare, with 85% 50 millimeters upwards and an underwater weight of 398 grams. The 5-year average is 62,43 tons with 87% coarse.
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Potato growth in Belgium is failing, mainly due to a lack of serious precipitation.
No regrowth in Wallonia
A lack of precipitation is causing plots in Belgium to fail en masse. The current yield figures confirm the low yield and fine sorting (with a high underwater weight). In Wallonia, the crops are in better shape, but the result remains below average. Moreover, growth is reported to be almost at a standstill. Continued growth is no longer expected, although differences in the region are sometimes large.
Fontane's gross yield reached 37 tons per hectare at the beginning of September, with almost 75% above 50 millimeters. It's below average. Last year the yield was 50 tons per hectare. Bleeding is still observed, but the situation is not worsening. Particularly in Flanders, plots of land suffer from quality problems and overgrowth, which reduces the underwater weight.