Belgium: Potato acreage in Flanders increases by 4.2 percent

PCA suspects that the increased contract prices are an incentive for growers to plant more potatoes. When the contracts were signed in January, there was no indication that the cost price would increase significantly in 2022. In addition, the acreage growth can be explained by the better prices on the free market. Since this year, the acreage of seed potatoes has been divided into certified seed potatoes (1,052 hectares) and farm seed potatoes (371 hectares). Farm seed is the part that growers themselves grow from seed potatoes for their own use in the next season. This will increase Flemish seed potato production by 2 percent. Other crops The crop with the largest increase in acreage is grain maize. This year, with 56,046 hectares, no less than 32 percent more grain maize is being grown, PCA reports. The surface area of winter wheat ...