The potato production obtained in 2020 slightly went past 2 million tons, but registered a drop from the previous year, by almost 21%, when it had a total of 2.62 million tons, according to the data provided by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MADR), at the request of AGERPRES.
The yield per hectare registered a recoil of almost 3 tons, from 15,44 tons in 2019, to 12,56 tons in 2020, and the area of cultivation went by 4,394 hectares.
According to the data from MADR, the cultivated potato surface was 165,669 hectares last year, while 2019 surpassed 170,663 hectares.
Ten years ago, Romania recorded potato productions of 3.5 - 4 tons, but on larger areas, namely 200,000 - 250,000 hectares, but in the last 5 years the areas have constantly gone down beneath 200,000 hectares. Areas with tradition in cultivating potatoes are Harghita, Covasna, Brasov, Suceava and Sibiu.
The internal consumption of potatoes is estimated at around 2 million tons, to which is added 500,000 tons for seed, processing and fodder.