Also significant growth in potato area in Belgium

The Flemish equivalent of the agricultural census, published by the Agency for Agriculture and Fisheries, shows that the area of ​​early potatoes (which are harvested before 1 September according to the Flemish definition) has increased by almost 49% to over 8.263 hectares. In absolute terms, an increase of almost 2.714 hectares. This is much more than the 2% growth of the area of ​​storage potatoes to almost 51.064 hectares. The total Flemish area thus amounts to 59.326 hectares, a growth of over 6,5%. 

Walloon image inverted
In Wallonia, the picture is the opposite. Although the area of ​​early potatoes is increasing by almost 18%, the absolute number of hectares of 79 is not much. The greatest growth in Wallonia is precisely in the storage potatoes, the area of ​​which is increasing by more than 8% to 48.365 hectares. If you add the data from the two states together, you arrive at an area for 2025 of more than 107.960 hectares of potatoes. This is more than 7% more than last year. 

The data does require a small explanation, because in Belgium the category 'Potatoes' not only includes potatoes for chips, table, salad or flakes (consumption), but also starch potatoes. The share of starch potatoes in this mix is ​​limited, however. The CBS announced on Monday that the Dutch area of ​​consumption potatoes, so excluding starch, has grown by 8,6% to 83.100 hectares.

Belgian seed potato cultivation is growing
The Belgian area of ​​seed potatoes has also grown: by almost 10% to 3.482 hectares. This is certified seed potatoes, including the farm seed potatoes known in Belgium. Although the increase in the area is relatively large, the Belgian seed potato cultivation pales in comparison to the area in the Netherlands of 41.900 hectares this year. Not only in Belgium and the Netherlands, but also in Germany, the the area of ​​seed potatoes toe.