As of today, about 45% of the sown area has been harvested, which this year amounts to 98.7 thousand hectares in all categories of farms.
In the production structure, 96% of the potato area is concentrated in households, while industrial production accounts for only 4%.
As of 25 September, farms of all categories harvested potatoes on an area of 43.9 thousand hectares. The total gross harvest is 768.2 thousand tonnes, with a yield of 175 centners per hectare. Agricultural enterprises harvested 11.2 thou tonnes of potatoes on an area of 0.5 thou hectares (13% of the sown area) with a yield of 229.6 centners per hectare.
“This season, like for other crops, had its own peculiarities for potatoes. Prolonged high temperatures had a certain impact on the growing season, but thanks to the efforts of farmers, we are seeing a stable harvest, which shows the effectiveness of modern growing technologies that allow us to improve the quality and quantity of the crop,” said Liudmyla Honcharenko, acting director of the agro-industrial development department of the Lviv Regional State Administration.
Lviv region produces about 8% of the total potato production in Ukraine, and ranks second among Ukrainian regions in terms of cultivation area.
Over the past 5 years, the area under potato cultivation has grown by 4%, while gross production has increased by 14%. This year, the total potato harvest is expected to reach 1,850 thousand tonnes with an average yield of around 190 centners per hectare.
Up to 30% of the harvest is used for household consumption. The majority of potatoes are sold by households at harvest time to avoid losing the crop due to insufficient storage and industrial processing capacity.
Industrial producers mainly sell food potatoes to processing plants for the production of chips and starch. It should be noted that since 2021, the processing of potatoes for starch in the region has been carried out by Central Plain Group LLC.