Potato crisis in Europe - Farmers give up growing them due to rising costs!
Potato production in Romania continues to decline, as seed costs have doubled in recent years and labor has become increasingly expensive and difficult to find.
In 2024, potato production in Romania was the lowest it had been in eight years, according to the country's National Institute of Statistics, even though it is home to almost one in three potato farms in the EU.
On average, the total potato yield in the EU is around 35 tonnes of potatoes per hectare. In contrast, Romania's yield last year is estimated to have been around 14.8 tonnes.
The drought and heat that marked 2024 further exacerbated the decline in potato production in Romania, but demand continues to grow.
Romanian farmers say that domestic production covers only half of the country's consumption needs. As a result, stores are full of imported stocks, which is reflected in prices: in a typical market, a kilogram of potatoes usually sells for 5 lei (1 euro).
Traders are finding it harder to get goods, saying sales are not as high as in previous years, while some farmers say they have to give up growing potatoes altogether due to upfront costs.
To make matters worse, other EU countries are also seeing a decline in potato yields. Almost 70% of the EU's harvested potato area is concentrated in just five countries: France, Poland, the Netherlands and Belgium.
Between 2000 and 2023, harvested potato production in the EU fell by 27.9 million tonnes, equivalent to a decline of 36.7%.
There has been a particularly large decline in harvested potato production in Poland, and the largest recipient of Polish potatoes is Romania.
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