The Netherlands and other countries in Northwestern Europe could face one of the smallest potato harvests in history this year and losses of hundreds of millions for producers due to summer droughts, BTA reported, citing ANP.
According to the conclusions of an analysis by the research organization “Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit“ (Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit – ECIU), the total loss of production in the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium and France could reach 622 million euros.
The losses in the Netherlands could amount to 42 million euros, the organization warned.
Due to dry and warm weather this summer, the potato harvest in the four countries is likely to decrease by about 3.1 million tons in total, and in the Netherlands by 210,000 tons, the study shows. Compared with the average for the past five years in the Netherlands, this represents a production loss of 7 percent.
Last year, potato producers in Europe faced a surplus and lower prices. As a result, many of them decided to reduce the area under production this year.