Higher Yields boost UK potato crop

Total GB potato production for the 2008 harvest was up significantly on last year to 5.8m tonnes, according to the first provisional estimate by the Potato Council.

The figure, based on a survey of 339 crops, was 7% higher than last season's flood-hit harvest and came from a 2% lower planted area of 128,500ha.

The main reason behind the larger tonnage was an increase in average yields, which were 9% up on 2007 at 45.1t/ha. That was just above the five-year average of 44.7t/ha.