class = “sc-cffd1e67-0 iQNQmc”>
They are as much a part of the winter raclette as they are the summer part of swimming pool fries: potatoes. But the tuber is getting scarce! Potato farmers in Switzerland have been struggling with crop shortages for years. Now the potato famine is reaching a new level.
“There is a shortage of seedlings,” explains Ruedi Fischer (55), President of the Swiss Potato Producers Association and therefore Switzerland’s top potato farmer. Fischer puts the seedlings in the ground at his farm in Emmental at the end of March. “We will all be able to plant fewer potatoes this year,” she says.
Fischer was returning from the international vegetable and potato fair in Berlin (Germany) when Blick telephoned him. “Seedlings are missing all over Europe,” says Fischer. Swiss potato farmers cannot obtain additional seed potatoes from abroad.
Potato growers stopped begging
Yields from the potato harvest were already poor in previous years. Last year it was about a third lower than normal. And there were still enough seeds at that time! “Climate change and extreme weather are a real problem for us,” Fischer explains. Last summer the weather was very hot and very dry. “We want the temperature to be around 28 degrees and the rainfall to be regular.”
It should not rain too much, otherwise pests will attack the potatoes. The risk of crop failure is becoming too great for many potato farmers. Growing potatoes is a capital-intensive business. “An investment of at least 10,000 francs per hectare is required before even harvesting the first kilo of potatoes,” Fischer calculates. In recent years some people have switched from growing potatoes to growing grain or sugar beets.
Desert potatoes from the Sahara
According to the industrial organization Swiss Patat, there is a shortage of seed potatoes of the Frites variety for cultivation in the near future. Still, Fischer reassures that no one needs to go to the pool without fries during the summer months. Although there is a potato shortage internationally. “The quantities required by Switzerland are relatively small for the European market. You will find them.”
Instead of Swiss potatoes, potatoes from abroad are increasingly appearing on the shelves. From Germany, the Netherlands, France or Egypt, where potatoes are grown in intense climatic conditions on desert soils.
And potatoes tend to be more expensive. “That’s what we rely on,” Fischer explains. “You have to give producers a perspective to stay in potato planting.”
Despite the decrease in planting material, hope for this year’s harvest is not completely lost: If the weather is better than in previous years, the autumn harvest may be larger. “We are pleased that potato consumption is high in Switzerland and we are doing our best to accommodate this,” says Fischer.
Source :Blick
I’m Tim David and I work as an author for 24 Instant News, covering the Market section. With a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism, my mission is to provide accurate, timely and insightful news coverage that helps our readers stay informed about the latest trends in the market. My writing style is focused on making complex economic topics easy to understand for everyone.
