The Swiss voice in the world since 1935

Swiss potato harvest expected to drop by a third

harvesting
© Keystone / Gaetan Bally

This year's potato harvest has been disappointing with growers expecting a drop of around a third compared with recent years.

Yields are still difficult to estimate at the moment. The final figures will not be known until early December, Ruedi Fischer, President of the Swiss Potato Growers’ Association (USPPT), told press agency Keystone-SDA.

+ Switzerland forced to import potatoes for chips and crisps

But it is already clear that there will be “above-average losses that we have never seen before”, he added, referring to an article in the German-language agricultural information service (LID). According to current forecasts, there could be a shortfall of 100,000 tonnes, particularly of potatoes for processed products such as chips. The situation is slightly better for table potatoes.

The reason for this drop is to be found mainly in the weather. Conditions were unfavourable in spring and too hot in summer. Pests are also to blame.


This news story has been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team. At SWI swissinfo.ch we select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools such as DeepL to translate it into English. Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles. You can find them here

If you want to know more about how we work, have a look here, and if you have feedback on this news story please write to english@swissinfo.ch.

Popular Stories

Most Discussed

News

Swiss and French armies train together

More

Swiss and French armies train together

This content was published on French and Swiss armoured and artillery units will train together to strengthen the defence capabilities of the Swiss army.

Read more: Swiss and French armies train together
Entry to the United Kingdom from Wednesday only with authorisation

More

Swiss need visas to travel to UK from Wednesday

This content was published on From Wednesday, a Swiss passport will no longer be sufficient to enter the UK - Swiss travellers will also need an electronic travel authorisation.

Read more: Swiss need visas to travel to UK from Wednesday

In compliance with the JTI standards

More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative

You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!

If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR