España: "A lot of interest in area expansion, but no oversupply expected due to lack of seed potatoes"

The company’s plots are spread across the municipalities of Villamanrique de la Condesa, Dos Hermanas and La Puebla del Río.

"For the new potatoes, we will keep the same area as last year. We have two customers: supermarket chain Mercadona in Spain, which takes 80% of our harvest, and Carrefour Belgium, which takes the remaining 20%," says Miguel Ángel Castillo, director of Nevado e Hijos.

Planting is going well. The weather conditions have been good in the past few weeks in the province of Seville, which accounts for more than half of the potato cultivation in Andalusia. However, for the second year in a row there is a shortage of seed potatoes. "Last year there were already fewer seed potatoes from Europe, and the germination rate was very low. This led to apical dominance in the plants ( the growth of the main shoot suppresses the growth of the side shoots ) and lower yields than expected," Castillo explains. "In Spain we are suffering from drought, but in Europe it was the heavy rainfall and flooding that caused the seed potatoes to germinate late and be harvested later."

In addition, there were problems with potato blight in Seville last year due to the rain in the spring. "We have not had so much trouble with this fungus in years. This has led to a lower yield, but due to the high demand on the market, the prices of new potatoes were extremely high."

"High prices often motivate growers to plant more, especially when yields of other crops like wheat, sugar beets or cotton are down," Castillo says. "But I don’t expect an oversupply this year, because there simply isn’t enough seed available." The seed companies prioritize fixed contracts with their loyal customers. The volume of freely available seed potatoes is low. "Exclusive varieties are even harder to find," he says.

New potatoes

The new potato, also known as the early potato, is the most important variety in Andalusia. According to data from the regional Ministry of Agriculture, around 61% of the potato area is devoted to this early variety. "The consumption of new potatoes is growing every year, and supermarkets are offering them more and more often," says Castillo.

"Once you’ve tasted new potatoes, you won’t want to buy stored or imported potatoes anymore. New potatoes have a much better taste, texture and freshness. That’s why we are now developing an extra early potato program, so that we can also supply fresh new potatoes in January, February and March, outside the normal season."

"Winter cultivation (planted at the end of August) on the other hand requires extra work, because the potatoes are exposed to autumn and winter weather until harvest. This results in a lower yield than in spring or summer. Nevertheless, we make this extra effort to provide consumers with Spanish new potatoes for as long as possible," says Castillo. "We know that the superior quality of new potatoes more than justifies the higher price tag."

For more information:Nevado e HijosPol. Ind. El Puntal Nº 3-441140 Isla Mayor (Sevilla) – SpainTel: +34 955 773 997administracion@nevadoehijos.comhttps://nevadoehijos.es/