Erfurt (dpa/th) – Thuringia’s farmers have had the weakest potato harvest in 30 years. According to the State Statistical Office on Friday, an average of 27 tons of potatoes per hectare was harvested this year. This is around 10 tons per hectare or 27 percent below the long-term average for the years 2016 to 2021. Compared to the previous year, the yield per hectare fell by a third, according to the statistics.
In total, only around 34,000 tons of potatoes were taken from the ground in Bavaria due to the low yield per hectare and a further significant reduction in the area under cultivation. That is a decrease in the harvest volume by almost 30,000 tons or almost half (47 percent). This means that fewer and fewer potatoes are coming from local cultivation for the favorite dish of many Thuringians – the potato dumpling.
In total, the tubers were grown on 1250 hectares in Bavaria. The fields are often located in the Thuringian Basin, which again had little rainfall this year. At 300 hectares, or a fifth, the decline in acreage was high. Compared to the long-term average, the decline was even higher at 24 percent.
