British farmers are beginning to abandon potato cultivation, leading to forecasts of higher prices and shortages of potatoes for British consumers, according to East-Fruit.
Usually, potatoes are planted in spring, and the crop is harvested from late August to October. However, many farmers have already decided to reduce the area of land they will allocate for the British’s favorite vegetable this year, and some have decided to completely abandon potatoes.
Cedric Porter, managing editor of World Potato Markets, believes that in 2023 the area of land used to grow potatoes will be reduced by 10%, which could lead to a 10% reduction in the harvest in October.
This comes in addition to the “historically low” harvest in 2022, which Porter said was caused both by farmers planting less crop and drought in the summer. He expects prices to rise by more than 10% soon due to problems.
As with most crops, the cost of potato production has risen as the global economy grapples with rising inflation.
A study published by the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) in November found that the cost of potato production increased by 20% between 2021 and 2022. According to the NFU, the main factors for the growth of production costs are the increase in the cost of energy (up to 165%), fertilizers (up to 40%) and labor costs (up to 13%).
