This year, the total cultivation area for ware potatoes in the Netherlands has declined by nearly 1.8 thousand hectares to 77 thousand hectares (-2.3 percent), according to a report issued this week by Statistics Netherlands.
According to information published in the report, areas planted for seed and starch potato use have increased slightly over the past twelve months; both by approximately 1 percent.
Statistics Netherlands further reports that the share of seed potatoes in the total potato area has continued to rise slightly again over the past year. As of 2020, over one-quarter of the total planted potato area (over 44 thousand ha) was planted for seed potato use, while the acreage planted for starch potatoes is nearly equal in size compared to last year. The bulk of the total potato area consists of ware potatoes (46.2 percent).
Since 2000, the seed potato area has grown by 2.4 thousand ha (5.7 percent) while the ware potato area declined by 10 thousand ha (-12 percent) and the starch potato area by 5.6 thousand ha (-11 percent).
In 2020, the agricultural area devoted to arable crops in the Netherlands is slightly down and fell by 0.3 percent relative to 2019.
Source: Statistics Netherlands
Photo: Bayer Cropscience