Germany: 733,900 tonnes of wild carrots and carrots were harvested in 2017

In German vegetable cultivation, the wild carrots and carrots still dominate the harvests. As reported by the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis), in 2017 the volume of wild carrots and carrots increased 14% year-on-year to 733,900 tonnes. This corresponds to a share of about 19% of the total harvest of outdoor vegetables in Germany. Most wild carrots and carrots were harvested in North Rhine-Westphalia with 212,000 tonnes, followed by Lower Saxony with 128,100 tonnes and Rhineland-Palatinate with 102,400 tonnes.

After wild carrots and carrots, onions with 541,400 tons and white cabbage with 478,700 tons showed next highest yields. In total, around 3,770,300 tons of vegetables were harvested from outdoors in 2017 (+ 7% compared to 2016).

The largest acreage in 2017 was once again used for asparagus with 28,400 hectares, which represents an increase of almost 5% compared to the previous year. This was followed by wild carrots and carrots with 12,500 hectares and onions with 11,800 hectares. The total outdoor vegetable crop area increased by 7% to 128,900 hectares compared to 2016.

The greenhouse acreage and that for cultivation under high protective covers increased by 4% in 2017 compared to the previous year. On the approximately 1,300 hectares, 182,100 tons of vegetables were harvested. The largest crops of this type were 370 hectares of tomatoes, 220 hectares of cucumbers and 210 hectares of corn salad.

The yield of outdoor vegetables from farms that manage their land fully organically increased by 12% compared with 2016 to 319,100 tonnes. This was an 8% share of the total of vegetables harvested in the field. The acreage increased by 11% over the same period, to 13,700 hectares, accounting for 11% of the total acreage of outdoor vegetables.

Source: destatis