The NEPG (North-Western European Potato Growers) is reaffirming the potato area for Belgium at 73.650 ha. The area includes all potatoes apart from seeding and starch potatoes, and shows a decrease of 7.3% compared to last season. This area was announced earlier on this week in a NEPG press release. But the Belgian Bureau for Statistics (ADSEI) announced a decline of 21% at the same time.
Not realistic
After consulting our Belgian NEPG members and realising that that the ADSEI figures are based on a random reading, a decline of 21% of the potato area in Belgium can not be viewed a realistic. The 21% remains the responsibility of ADSEI and the NEPG calculates 73.650ha as the actual estimated potato area.