The disastrous 2014 potato campaign, as far as prices are concerned, has officially come to an end for the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Environment with a 12% increase in production volumes, reaching 2,467,596 tonnes, compared to the 2,199,595 of 2013. This increase is largely due to improved yields per hectare, as the acreage has grown by 6%, reaching 75,774 hectares, compared with 71,053 in the previous season.
Approximately 40% of Spain’s production concentrates in the region of Castile-Leon, where the acreage has increased by 2%, reaching 20,688 hectares planted, and production has grown by 11.4%, with 973,339 tonnes, compared to 873,850 in the previous season. Valladolid, with 297,186 tonnes, is the province with the largest production, followed by Salamanca, with 208,800 tonnes, compared to 196,460 in the previous season, and Segovia, which has produced 119,830 tonnes this year compared to 93,350 in 2013; an increase of nearly 17%.
Galicia is the second most important region in terms of production, with 472,109 tonnes, an increase of just 1% compared to 2013. Meanwhile, production volumes in Andalusia have increased by 20%, reaching 324,027 tonnes, while the acreage has only grown by 5%, reaching 11,068 hectares. The highest growth has been registered by Murcia, where production has increased by 82%, from 96,268 tonnes in 2013 to 175,464 in the campaign now finishing, largely due to the growth in the acreage, which has almost doubled, from 2,834 hectares in 2013 to 5,220 by the end of 2014. (Source: agronewscastillayleon.com)
