Even though less was harvested during the drought in 2018, the first place in the European potato harvest goes to Germany with around 8.9 million tons. On average, every German consumed 60.4 kg of potatoes in 2017/18. The consumption of freshly cooked potatoes is tending to decrease, while the consumption of finished potato products increases. This was reported by the Federal Center for Nutrition (BZfE).
Around 27,540 farms grew potatoes to over 250,200 hectares, of which more than two-thirds accounted for table potatoes; about 20 percent were starch potatoes, the rest seed potatoes. According to the Federal Statistical Office, Lower Saxony is the largest potato producing country, followed by Bavaria and North Rhine-Westphalia. Three quarters of the German acreage accounted for these three federal states. Due to the drought, the harvest volume fell by 24 percent in 2018 compared to the previous year.
Cultivation of organic potatoes is booming
In the EU, Germany is also the leader in organic potato production: In 2018, the acreage amounted to 8,976 hectares, which is 32 percent of the EU's total area of 28,300 hectares of organic potatoes.
Source: BZfE