Table potato harvest in Sweden rises by 7%

The Swedish harvest of table potatoes (all potatoes, only excludes potatoes used for starch production) is estimated at 581,000 tonnes.

This is 38,100 tonnes or 7 percent more than the total harvest in 2010, a report by Statistics Sweden has shown.

Four counties dominate the cultivation of table potatoes: Skåne, Västra Götaland, Halland and Östergötland counties. The area for table potatoes amounted to 19,990 hectares in 2011.

The yield/hectare of table potatoes including early/new potatoes for 2011 is estimated at 29,070 kilos per hectare, which is 6 percent higher than the final harvest of the previous year.

Besides early/new potatoes, the category table potatoes includes autumn and winter potatoes for direct consumption as well as potatoes for the production of potato flakes, chips, french fries etc., potatoes used as feed and seed potatoes.

Potatoes for starch are mainly cultivated in Skåne, Blekinge and Kalmar counties. The yield per hectare is estimated to be 39.130 kilos per hectare and the total yield to be 297.400 tonnes, which is almost 9 percent higher than last year's results. Kalmar county reports the highest harvest of 40.940 kilos per hectare. The area for potatoes for starch amounted to 7.600 hectares, which is an increase of 240 hectares compared to 2010.