Romanian farmers give up on growing potatoes as costs surge

Romania's potato production continues to decline, with seed costs have doubling in recent years and labour increasingly expensive and hard to find.

In 2024, Romania's potato production was the lowest it had been in eight years, according to the country's National Institute of Statistics, even though it is home to almost one in three of the EU's potato farms.

On average, the EU's overall potato yield is bout 35 tonnes of potatoes per hectare. In contrast, Romania's yield last year is estimated to have been around 14.8 tonnes.

The drought and heat that marked 2024 further exacerbated the decline in Romania's potato production, but demand continues to grow.

Romanian farmers say that domestic production covers only half of the country's consumption needs. As a result, shops are full of imported stock, which is reflected in the prices: in a typical market, a kilogram of potatoes usually sells for 5 lei (€1).

Traders are finding it harder to get goods, saying sales are not as high as in previous years, while some farmers say they are having to give up growing potatoes altogether because of the upfront costs.

To make matters worse, other EU countries are also seeing a decline in potato yields. Almost 70% of the EU's harvested potato area is concentrated in just five countries: France, Poland, the Netherlands and Belgium.

Between 2000 and 2023, the harvested production of potatoes in the EU declined by 27.9 million tonnes, equivalent to a drop of 36.7%.

There was a particularly heavy decline in the harvested production of potatoes in Poland — and the largest recipient of Polish potatoes is Romania.