Brazil: 2026 Potato Crop Seen at 4.2 Million Tonnes, Down 8.2%
Brazil's statistics agency IBGE expects 4.20 million tonnes of potatoes in 2026, 8.2% less than in 2025. Planted area fell 9.2%, while average yields held steady.
Brazil will harvest less potato in 2026. The national statistics agency IBGE puts the crop at 4,202,253 tonnes. That is 8.2% below the 4,577,847 tonnes of 2025.
The figure comes from the August edition of the Systematic Survey of Agricultural Production (LSPA). IBGE published the survey in September.
All three seasons are smaller
Brazil grows potatoes in three seasons. IBGE sees a decline in each of them:
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- First (summer) crop: 1,933,688 t, down 0.7%.
- Second crop: 1,374,803 t, down 9.9%.
- Third (winter) crop: 893,762 t, down 19.1%.
The August estimate is slightly higher than the July one. The agency added about 3,155 tonnes in total. The second crop gained 1,600 t and the winter crop 1,555 t. The first crop did not change.
Less area, not lower yields
Planted area explains most of the fall. Growers planted 122,091 ha in 2026, according to IBGE data in the SIDRA database. In 2025 they planted 134,471 ha. That is a drop of 9.2%.
The winter crop lost the most area. It shrank from 29,091 ha to 22,202 ha, or 23.7%. Second-crop area fell 10.6%. First-crop area fell only 1.1%.
Average yields did not fall. Our calculation from IBGE data gives about 34.5 t/ha in 2026. The 2025 level was about 34.0 t/ha.
The weather still hurt some regions. In August, the Pensar Agro news service cited Cepea data for Vargem Grande do Sul in São Paulo state. Rain in May and June cut July yields there to about 30 t/ha.
Why it matters
Brazil is the largest potato producer in South America. A crop 375,000 tonnes smaller changes the supply balance for fresh markets and processors. It also shapes import demand from Argentina and Europe.
The data show that growers chose to plant less. This points to economic reasons, not only to weather. Seed, fertiliser and machinery suppliers may see weaker demand if the trend continues in the next planting cycle.
Photo: Potatoes, a painting by José Júlio de Souza Pinto (illustrative). José Júlio de Sousa Pinto / Wikimedia Commons, public domain
