Context expected for the 20/21 campaign and prospects
COVID-19 has profoundly changed the parameters of campaigns 19/20 and 20/21.
For the current campaign, industrial activity has picked up, but at an average rate of 85%. She does not
should not return to pre-crisis levels for several months. The surfaces under contract 21/22 are thus
expected to decline. As a reminder, + 1% of production above the level of demand generates a decrease
valuation for the producer of -7% (UNPT / IDARI study, 2018).
On the fresh market, the crisis provided a boost in terms of household consumption, but it there is nothing that would call for an increase in surface areas in 2021. The balance remains fragile and
must be preserved.
To date, the starch sector is still looking for areas for 2021 and has contracts and
plant, as required by the market.
UNPT recommendations for the 2021 potato sowing
Thus, in this context and at a time when reflections on sowing, in particular those of fall crops, are topical, the UNPT recommends that producers retain only the outlets remunerative, to reduce their 2021 plantings of ware potatoes and consolidate their surface in cereals or starch potatoes.
It joins in this the communication of the NEPG1 of last September 72 who called the producers of perimeter to be actors of their future by reducing their 2021 potato area. The uncertainty concerning the return of demand for industrial potatoes and the adjustment of the level of supply are indeed the two main parameters for producers. In this context, it is therefore their responsibility assess their production risk and precisely analyze the associated (often rising) costs.
1 NEPG: North-Western European Potato Growers (Germany, Belgium, France, Holland, United Kingdom)
2 NEPG press release of September 7, 2020
