Planted area under potatoes in Flanders is growing: at the moment it is 51 hectares, which means an increase of 708%, data from the Belgian Research Center for Potato Cultivation (PCA) showed. It is reported by the Dutch Nieuwe Oogst portal. Flanders is a region in the northwest of Europe, located on the territory of France, Belgium and the Netherlands.
Experts from the Belgian Research Center for Potato Cultivation suggested that the incentive to grow more potatoes is the increase in contract prices. In January, there was no indication that production costs would rise significantly in 2022.
In addition, the growth in seating areas can be attributed to the best prices in the free market, analysts say.
Since this year, seed potato areas have been divided into certified seed potatoes (1052 hectares) and farmers' seed potatoes (371 hectares). Farm seed is the part that growers grow from seed potatoes for their own use the following season. The size of land under such potatoes increased by 2%.
The crop with the largest increase in sown area is corn for grain. At least 56% more grain corn is being grown on 046 hectares this year, according to the PCA. The area under winter wheat decreased by 32%, under winter barley - increased by 4%. The area of chicory also increased by 9%. The greatest reduction in sown areas is observed when growing vegetables in open ground.