The organizers of PotatoEurope 2022 – the industry venue for the European spud sector – that should take place in Rittergut Bockerode estate in Springe-Mittelrode near Hanover, Germany, is opened now for exhibitors online registration.

PotatoEurope 2022 offers growers and companies from the upstream and downstream sectors access to a specialist platform that delivers information on all aspects of modern potato production and processing.

The focus at the trade fair will be on breeding, fertilization, plant protection, technology for production and processing, as well as trade. Trial plots along with machinery demonstrations for planting, harvesting, loading, and mechanical weed control as well as information events round off the technical offerings.

PotatoEurope 2022 is organized by DLG (German Agricultural Society) and is supported by the German Potato Industry Association (Union der Deutschen Kartoffelwirtschaft e.V. – UNIKA). More than 200 exhibitors and around 10,000 trade visitors are expected. The registration deadline for exhibitors planning to use the trial plots is February 28, 2022. Stand areas that are located in the field or the marquee hall as well as participation in the machinery demonstrations can be registered until April 29, 2022. The PotatoEurope trade fair takes place annually alternating between Belgium, the Netherlands, France, and Germany. Each country hosts PotatoEurope every four years.

Germany’s Potato Industry

In Germany, potato cultivation takes place on more than 27,000 farms with a combined area varying between 250,000 – 270,000 hectares. On average, Germany produces 10-11m tons of potatoes annually, making it the largest potato producer in the European Union (EU). The number of potato varieties has increased by over 58% in the last ten years from 345 in 2010 to 545 potato varieties approved in Germany in 2020.

This sector generates an estimated value-added return of more than EUR3bn annually through sales of three main income streams: food, industrial and seed potatoes.

These dimensions underline the importance of the potato sector in Germany – and the industry’s important position in the EU – yet, on average, the German potato crop only accounts for about 2% of the country’s farmland.