Dutch seed potato sales in Europe are still lagging behind last year’s for now. This can be seen from the number of temporary exports of Dutch seeds from the Netherlands Potato Organization (NAO).

As of the end of March, 340,000 tonnes of potato seeds were sold from the Netherlands to destinations in Europe. A year ago, that was 10,000 tons more at the same time of the season. The low backlog in exports is mainly due to European countries that are not part of the European Union.

The most striking is the export of potato seeds to England. This year, because of the regulations surrounding Brexit, all kinds of restrictions are attached to it. Counter exports to UK customers totaled 3,500 tonnes as of March 31. That’s almost 10,000 tonnes less than last year.

Ukraine has also purchased 400 tonnes of potato seeds to date, about 1,000 tonnes less than last year. It is surprising that sales to Belarus, with more than 1,500 tons of potato seeds, actually increased by about 900 tons. Exports to Russia have not yet started.

As of March 31, the Dutch potato seed company sold a total of nearly 627,000 tons of potato seeds abroad. Therefore, the export of seed potatoes from the 2021 harvest is relatively average compared to the previous five years. The fact that this season’s total export counter is so far higher than last year is entirely due to the large volumes that have declined particularly in Algeria and Egypt.