Concerns about the impending shortage of seed potatoes in the Netherlands: There just isn't enough

De Vries expects that a lot of seed potatoes will be cut due to the impending shortage. 'You can already see that there is a demand for all sizes, from 25 millimeters upwards to 70 millimeters upwards. So there is already a problem.' According to the department chairman, the shrinking crop protection product package is bothering growers. 'The risks of growing good seed potatoes are increasing. This means that more and more growers are choosing to grow consumption potatoes instead of seed potatoes. That doesn't help at all. Seed potatoes have to be propagated somewhere. Thanks to the Dutch seed potato sector, we can feed a billion people worldwide. We have to maintain that.' Area is shrinking The area of seed potatoes that was registered with NAK for inspection for the 2023 growing season, at 38,776 hectares, was approximately 6.5 percent lower than in 2022. This marked the third year in a row that the seed potato area in the Netherlands decreased. For the first time since 2014, ...