Good growing conditions have resulted in the production of more potatoes this year than last - with volumes up by some 3.5 per cent to 6.2 million tonnes.
The Potato Council revealed the figure - based on the production reported from 246 crops from its grower panel - at the British Potato 2009 event.
The planted area of this year's crop is almost the same as last year - 130,231ha in 2009 compared to 130,234ha in 2008.
The Potato Council revealed that average yields are greater this year - 47.2 tonnes/ha, versus 45.7 tonnes/ha last year.
However, dry weather during the latter part of the season, especially in eastern England, led to difficult harvesting conditions for growers, whose crops tended to have a poor skin finish, high dry-matter levels and excessive bruising during lifting. As a result, it is expected that wastage will be high during the 2009/10 season.
