The harvest has reached its peak in Saxony's potato fields. But farmers have recently had to interrupt their work again and again because of the drought. If the soil is too dry through, this leads to quality losses in the harvest, said Ariane Weiß of the Saxon Potato Association of the German Press Agency.
"We assume that the harvest will not be as bad as last year and overall slightly below average," explained Weiß. Exact figures on the harvest amount are still difficult - vaguely estimated it could be about 380 decitons per hectare (2022: 323.5). In really good years, it was already well over 400. The tubers are normal-sized and the qualities so far okay.
The cultivation of potatoes has declined in recent years, according to figures from the State Statistics Office. If the area amounted to 2014 still on about 6900 hectares are it this year only 5300 hectares. That is less than 1 percent of the arable land cultivated by Saxony's farmers. According to Weiß, focal points of potato cultivation are in the regions of Zwickau and Leipzig.
