Potatoes… - Bayer CropScience

achieved in New Zealand – more than
45 tonnes per ha on average, and up to a
maximum of 70 tonnes. The potato is
among the New Zealanders’ favourite vegetables,
and this is reflected in the figure
for consumption per head – 66 kg a year.
Russia is continental Europe’s
potato king
Until the 20th century, continental Europe
was easily the world’s largest producer of
potatoes. Today, seven European countries
still rank among the world’s ten largest
producers. The leader of the pack is
Russia, with production at 35.7 million
tonnes a year from an area of around 3 million
ha (2006 figure). Second place goes to
the Ukraine, with around 19 million tonnes
from 1.5 million ha. Despite the large
harvests they produce, these two Eastern-
European heavyweights hardly feature at
all as export countries: even today, a large
proportion of the harvest is still lost as the
result of diseases and unsuitable storage
conditions.
With its harvest of 11.6 million tonnes
in 2007, Germany is Europe’s number
three potato producer, and number six in
the world. Despite a 30% decrease in
production and harvested yield over the
last 30 years, Germany remains the largest
Top potato producers
Quantity (tonnes), 2007
1. China 72,000,000
2. Russian Fed. 35,718,000
3. India 26,280,000
4. Ukraine 19,102,300
5. USA 17,653,920
6. Germany 11,604,500
7. Poland 11,221,100
8. Belarus 8,700,000
9. Netherlands 7,200,000
10. France 6,271,000
kg per capita, 2006
1. Belarus 835.6
2. Netherlands 425.1
3. Ukraine 414.8
4. Denmark 291.1
5. Latvia 286.0
6. Poland 271.5
7. Belgium 267.4
8. Lithuania 261.2
9. Russian Fed. 259.0
10. Kyrgyzstan 219.4
producer in Western Europe. The harvest is
used as follows: 6.5 million tonnes become
processed foods and 3.3 million tonnes are
destined for starch production for the domestic
market; a further 3.3 million tonnes
of fresh potatoes and processed products
are exported. Germany is also the numberone
importer of early potatoes for eating –
around 550.000 tonnes (2005 figure),
mainly from France, Italy and Egypt.
The third-largest Eastern European producer
is Poland, with around 11 million
tonnes harvested from around 600,000 ha.
Poland has slipped to 10th place in the
world ranking 2006 as the result of a
decline in production in recent years and
due to adverse weather conditions. But
potatoes are still produced on more than
2 million small-scale farms, representing
about 10% of the agricultural area. Half of
the harvest ends up in animal feed; only a
quarter is used for food production.
Constant level of production
in Holland
The Netherlands has a special place in
European potato cultivation. While the
area of cultivation in Europe as a whole
continues to fall, it remains constant in
Holland. The root crop occupies a quarter of
Dutch agricultural land, and Dutch farmers
achieve record yields of more than 45 tonnes
per ha. Only one half of production is destined
for consumption: 20% is reserved as
seed, and the remaining 30% goes to starch
production. Holland is the world’s premier
producer of certified seed potatoes, with
exports of 700,000 tonnes a year.
France is the leading European exporter
of fresh potatoes (1.5 million tonnes in
2006), especially to Southern Europe.
Some two million tonnes are destined for
the domestic market and one million
tonnes for the processing industry.
With a harvest of around 3.3 million
tonnes, Belgium is among the smaller
European producers, but its farmers are
nevertheless capable of achieving high
yields (around 43 tonnes per ha). More
than 80% of production is processed to
crisps, French fries, starch and other products,
of which more than 1 million tonnes
(2006 figure) are exported.
Diversity of uses
Potatoes are suited to a large variety of
nutritional and technical uses. Less than
50% of the global potato harvest is consumed
in the form of the fresh vegetable.
The largest proportion goes into processing
and refining for food products and food additives.
A significant amount is either used
as the basis for feed for cattle and pigs, or
is processed to starch for industrial use.
Finally, a smaller proportion is retained as
seed potatoes for the following season.
The global trend in terms of consumption
is moving away from the potato as a
basic, staple food, with a shift towards
refined, processed products. The most common
form of processed potatoes is French
fries, as offered in fast food restaurants
around the world. Production is widely
standardized: peeled potatoes are cut into
strips, heated, air-dried, fried, frozen and
finally, packaged. The annual global turn -
over of industrially-prepared French fries is
in the order of more than 11 million tonnes.
Potato flakes and granules are produced
by drying the raw potato down to a water
content of 5 to 8%. These are used as food
additives or in potato products for the convenience
food sector. Further dried potato
products include potato flour and potato
powder. These products are gluten-free,
with a high starch content. Potato flour is
used widely by the food industry as a binding
agent for prepared meals and soups.
Compared with starches from wheat and
maize, potato starch is almost tasteless,
and shows stronger binding properties. Potatoes
are also fermented to allow
the distillation of alcohol, particularly in
Eastern Europe and Scandinavia: vodka
and aquavit are two well-known examples.
Potato starch is also used widely in the
pharmaceutical, textile, wood and paper
industries as a binding agent and to
provide structure.
4 COURIER 1/08