France will lose more than 200.000 tons of potatoes this week, according to a new estimate from the Agreste statistics office of the French Ministry of Agriculture.
According to a new estimate, the French harvest of mid-early and storage potatoes will reach 8,3 million tons this year. This quantity is 214.317 tons lower than the previous estimate published in October.
Both the area and yield forecasts have been revised downwards. In the new overview, the area has been reduced to just under 196.000 hectares. Last month, the auditors still assumed that the expansion of cultivation would bring the total area of these potatoes to over 200.000 hectares.
The average yield remains stuck at 42,5 tons per hectare, according to the latest estimate. This means fewer potatoes are being harvested per hectare than last year, when 43,7 tons per hectare were harvested. The area of mid-early and storage potatoes last year amounted to 171.000 hectares.
More starch potatoes
The starch potato production estimate has been slightly increased compared to last month. Agreste now expects 513.000 tons of starch potatoes. That's over 13.000 tons more than last month's estimate.
Both cultivation volume and yields have been revised upwards. The area now stands at 10.771 hectares, 1,3% lower than last year. Yields per hectare have increased to an average of 47,6 tons per hectare. Last year, French starch growers harvested 45,8 tons. Despite a smaller area, starch potato production is almost 3% higher.