Bielorussia: la produzione di patate è calata del 65% dal 1992, attestandosi a 3.1 milioni di tonnellate, mentre il numero delle famiglie continua a crescere del 76%.

Belarus harvested 8.98 million tonnes of potatoes in 1992, according to FAOSTAT data published by Our World in Data. The yield was 11.5 tonnes per hectare. In 2024 the same data show 3.11 million tonnes at 22.1 tonnes per hectare.

By our calculation, the harvested area fell from about 779,000 hectares to about 141,000 hectares. That is a drop of roughly 82%. Output fell by about 65%, because yields almost doubled over the period.

The 2025 harvest

The national statistics committee Belstat reported a 2025 harvest of 3,047.2 thousand tonnes in all categories of farms. The average yield was 219 centners per hectare, or 21.9 tonnes. In November 2025 the committee said the country produces 341 kilograms of potatoes per person.

Who grows the potatoes

Household plots still dominate. In 2024 households grew 76% of all potatoes, according to Belstat data analysed by the business outlet Officelife. Private farmers grew 14% and agricultural enterprises 11%.

The decline came almost entirely from households. Their output fell from more than 7.5 million tonnes in 2005 to about 2.4 million tonnes in 2024. That is a fall of almost 70%. Over the same period private farmers raised output almost fourfold, from 80,000 to more than 420,000 tonnes.

Enterprises and households both cut their potato area by more than 70% in 20 years, the outlet reported. Yields in enterprises rose by 77%. Farmers raised yields 2.2 times.

Consumption and exports

Belarusians also eat fewer potatoes. Consumption fell from about 183 kilograms per person a year in 2005 to about 162 kilograms in 2023, according to the same analysis. That is a drop of 11%.

At the same time Belarus became the largest supplier of potatoes to the Russian market in 2024. Wholesale prices in Russia doubled that year, which made exports attractive.

Perché è importante

The Belarusian potato sector is moving from millions of garden plots to fewer commercial farms. The commercial part is still small, but it grows fast and has much higher yields. This part is the most likely source of potatoes that are stored, graded and exported.

For buyers in Russia and other neighbouring markets, Belarus is a key source. Its exportable surplus probably depends more on commercial farms than on the headline national harvest.

Photo: Potato harvest, a 1911 painting by Viktor Zarubin (illustrative). Viktor Zarubin / Wikimedia Commons, Pubblico dominio