According to the provisional crop harvest estimates, 1.5 million tonnes of seed onions will be harvested in 2019. That is 65 percent more than the 0.9 million tonnes that were harvested in 2018 and approximately the same as the gross yield in 2017. The gross yield of consumption potatoes will increase in 2019 compared to a year previous, and is expected to rise by 24 percent to 3.9 million tonnes. Compared to two years earlier, 0.1 million tonnes less was produced this year.
Earlier this year, CBS already published on the cultivated area of potato, sugar beet and seed onions. These figures now include the expected hectare yields from these crops, which are estimated on the basis of the latest available information from research agency Delphy.
Area of seed onions increased
In 2019, seed onions were grown on 27.6 thousand hectares, 9 percent more than a year earlier when it was 25.4 thousand hectares. The area of consumption potatoes rose by 3 percent in 2019 to 78.9 thousand hectares.
Hectare yield lower than in 2017
The yield per hectare of seed onions is estimated to be just over 53 tonnes, which is 50 percent higher this year than the final yield per hectare in 2018. Together with the growth of the cultivated area, this leads to an increase in the expected total gross yield of seed onions. In 2017, the yield per hectare for this crop was 2.6 tonnes above the level that is currently expected. The expected hectare yield in 2019 is also below the average for the 2000-2017 period (57.2 tons per hectare).
For consumption potatoes this year, the yield per hectare is estimated to be around 20 percent higher than last year. The hectare yield is therefore expected to be 49.3 tonnes. In 2017, the hectare yield for consumption potatoes was higher than the expectations for this year.
View here the provisional harvest estimate for the number of arable crops in 2019 (table).
Source: CBS