Potato planting not going smoothly everywhere in Europe

Due to drier weather from the end of February, planting could start quickly in the important European potato countries Germany and the Netherlands. Potato growers were also able to enter the country relatively early in France and Poland. The fact that no significant amounts of rain have fallen since February could cause problems with the development and growth of the potatoes. This is particularly the case in Poland, Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands, according to the JRC.

Extremes
In Spain and Portugal, the opposite is happening. Due to large amounts of precipitation, the field work there has to be done between the showers. As a result, the planting is lagging behind, as can be read in the Mars bulletin. In Romania, the planting started according to plan, but there the field work came to a standstill due to low temperatures and frost in early April. The frost may also have caused some damage in the early planted plots in the country.

Furthermore, the JRC notes that in several European countries the potato area has expanded somewhat compared to 2024. According to the JRC, more potatoes have been planted in the Netherlands and Spain, among others. On Tuesday (20 May), the German statistical office Destatis announced that in Germany the area has grown by 5% compared to last year.