At mid-October, the amount of food potato in stock totalled 221 million kilos, exceeding last autumn's amount by 21 million kilos. The total volume of potatoes stocked for the purpose of direct consumption and the food processing industry reached 274 million kilos. The data is based on statistics on potato farms’ food potato stocks compiled by Tike (the Information Centre of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry in Finland) twice a year.

The past season was challenging with regard to potato cultivation, and regional weather conditions varied greatly. Heavy rainfall interfered with potato harvesting in general, but in parts of the country, rains proved detrimental as early as the growing season.

Stocks grew due to higher crop yields than the year before and an increase in the area under cultivation. The crop yield grew from 28 tonnes to 29 tonnes per hectare and the combined area under cultivation decreased by 613 hectares, even though the area sown with food potatoes increased by 410 hectares. The stocks of food potatoes were higher than last year, but remained below the volumes of 2009 (225 million kilos). When combined, however, the amount of food potatoes and food-industry potatoes in on-farm stocks surpassed the volumes of 2009 by eight million kilos.

Ostrobothnia – the core area of potato cultivation

The cultivation of potatoes is clearly concentrated to the Ostrobothnia region. The greatest amount of food potatoes and food-industry potatoes was grown in the ELY (Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment) area of Ostrobothnia but, on average, the largest potato farms are located in the northern areas of Ostrobothnia. In 2011, average crop yields were at 29 tonnes per hectare, with the highest yields – at 32 tonnes per hectare – being achieved in southern Ostrobothnia. In mid-October, Ostrobothnian stocks contained 202 million kilos of potatoes, of which food potatoes accounted for 166 million kilos.

The quality of stocked potatoes varies

Each season’s weather has a major impact on the quality of potatoes. During the past season, heavy rains hindered harvesting and weakened quality. In addition, the protracted period of warm and moist weather has slowed down the drying and cooling of potatoes in stock. The starch content and the size of tubers increased due to the long growing season to such an extent as to cast doubt on the produce’s use as food potatoes. It is indeed likely that a portion of the potatoes intended for fresh consumption will end up being used by the food processing industry, in addition to which the volume of usable potatoes has been decreased by stocking losses.

Background information

The data on farms which cultivate food potatoes and food-industry potatoes and their production areas was obtained from the data system of the administrative body of rural industries. The survey concerning food potato stocks sent in mid-October was addressed to farms which cultivated food and food-industry potatoes in an area totalling at least two hectares. According to the survey’s results, the number of farms cultivating food and food-industry potatoes this year was 822, while the combined potato cultivation area of these farms amounted to 13,261 hectares. The Åland Islands were excluded from the statistics, since potato cultivation on the islands is focused on the production of food-industry potatoes (for instance chips).

The food potato survey was conducted with a sampling of 399 farms in connection with the Agricultural Census. The response rate was 82 per cent. The stock survey will be repeated for the same group of farmers in mid-January.

The statistical table is available on our Matilda agricultural statistics service on the home page of  Food potato storage statistics.

More information:
Tike, Statistical Service
Actuary Anna-Kaisa Jaakkonen, tel. +358 (0)20 77 21374
E-mail addresses follow the form of firstname.lastname@mmmtike.fi