The German Ministry of Agriculture has announced the preliminary results of the potato harvest. According to the figures, the yield is almost 9% above the level of last season, mainly due to the expansion of the acreage.
Based on the harvest results available so far, a potato harvest of 11,6 million tons is expected in Germany. This is approximately 8,9% above the level of the 2019 season and 8,3% more than the long-term average. The hectare yield is currently an average of 42 tons per hectare. This is higher than the results of the previous two dry years, but is 2% behind the multi-year average.
Expansion of the area
According to the ministry, the main reason for the higher harvest is the continuous expansion of the potato area. In Germany, the total potato area increased by 1,2% last year to almost 275.000 hectares. The state of Lower Saxony remains the leader in terms of area, with 45%. Bavaria (16%) and North Rhine-Westphalia (13%) are in second and third place.
The harvest expectations of the North-western European Potato Growers (NEPG)G came for Germany a few weeks ago amounts to 8,5 million tons of consumption potatoes. The NEPG also attributes these higher yields to an increase in the area.