Growth of storage potatoes remains limited in Belgium

The area growth of storage potatoes in Belgium remains limited to less than 5% this year. This is evident from preliminary figures released by the statistics agency StatBel. The researchers at StatBel have had some time to digest the outcomes, as the data being released now is based on the agricultural census from May. The figures do not reveal much shock, as the shifts in area had already become clear in recent months. What stands out in these figures is that the expansion of early potatoes has been quite large this year. This area has increased by almost 50% to just over 8,000 hectares. The cultivation of seed potatoes has increased by 10% to 3,324 hectares. Thus, the seed potato cultivation remains relatively small in Belgium. The cultivation of storage potatoes has seen an increase of 4.7%, totaling 96,333 hectares. This expansion has mainly occurred in Wallonia, where the surface area has increased by 8.2%. In Flanders, the growth has been limited to 1.5%. Due to these shifts, the area of storage potatoes this year in Wallonia is almost as large as in Flanders. StatBel has not yet provided an indication of the yields. Last month, the potato organizations did release a forecast. They aim for a total potato harvest of nearly 5 million tons. Compared to last year, this represents an increase of 650,000 tons, or 15%. The sugar beet area in Belgium has shrunk by 11% this year to 51,994 hectares. This decrease is attributed to the lower prices for sugar. In particular, in Wallonia, the cultivation has decreased (-13.1%). This is where the majority of beets are grown in Belgium. The beet cultivation in Flanders has decreased by 6.4% to 18,264 hectares. More chicory and flaxChicory and flax show growth this year in Belgium. Chicory has increased by nearly 20% to more than 10,000 hectares. In Flanders, the cultivation remains limited to less than 2,000 hectares, but the growth is strongest there with an increase of over 25%. In Wallonia, the cultivation has increased by 17.6%. For flax, we see a contraction (-9.45) in Flanders and an expansion (+9%) in Wallonia. Overall, the cultivation increases by 3.4% to 19,360 hectares across Belgium. The cultivation of rapeseed has decreased by 20% to just under 8,500 hectares.