Domestic Potato Production Shrinks Dramatically

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• 01According to initial estimates by the UNPT (National Union of French Potato Producers), this year’s table potato harvest is down 23 percent from the previous year—a loss of nearly two million metric tons.
• 02In Belgium, the area fell by 16.6 percent; in the Netherlands, by 15.1 percent; and in France, by just under 10 percent.
• 03This year, severe late frosts in May caused crop losses of 20 to 30 percent for Hungarian early potatoes.
• 04With an average yield of just 37.4 metric tons per hectare, the 2026 harvest marks one of the lowest levels in the past three decades.
• 05To bridge supply gaps during the winter and spring months, Hungary traditionally relies on imports from France, Germany, and the Netherlands, supplemented by shipments from Egypt and Israel.
• 06Zsolt Polgár of the MATE Potato Research Institute in Keszthely told Agrárágazat that, in the future, economically viable potato cultivation in Central Europe will be conceivable almost exclusively with modern, reliable irrigation infrastructure.
• 07Not too long ago, a very different picture dominated the European market, Magyar Nemzet reports.