STÉPHANE HERZOG Potatoes are a staple of the Swiss diet. Take the rösti, for example. And a picnic is not a picnic without a good packet of crisps. Swiss farmers are also fond of potatoes: in good conditions, they offer unparalleled returns to farmers on the Swiss Plateau. But it takes 10,000 Swiss francs to cultivate a hectare. “The potato is the best crop for transforming sunlight into calories, and it can also be consumed directly, which is a bonus,” comments Patrice de Werra, potato expert at Agroscope, the centre of excellence for agricultural research in Switzerland. The potato also needs water, much more than wheat or sweetcorn, Union of Potato Producers (USPPT). Potato growers have seen their income fall markedly, by 40 percent in some cases. Switzerland now has to import the foodstuff from neighbouring countries. More than 50,000 tonnes were imported in 2021, year of the worst harvest since the turn of the century, at only 380,000 tonnes, against more than 500,000 tonnes in the good years. The accumulation of these bad harvests is starting to weigh on farmers’ morale so much that some of them are thinking of giving up on the potato. Droughts in a country rich in water It all comes down to water, even in Switzerland, with its wealth of rivers and lakes. “It is a major problem,” acThe potato crop is suffering from the heat and threatening to trigger water shortages Switzerland’s roughly 4,000 potato farmers have seen three years of mediocre harvests. The potato plant needs water in summer. It is suffering from the scorching summer months as water scarcity becomes an issue. knowledges Ramseyer of the USPPT. “We’re getting more rain in winter and less in summer. If a river’s water level goes down, the farmers using surface waters may have this source denied to them by the authorities,” he remarks. The USPPT is lobbying for the installation of sprinkler systems wherever possible. About 45 percent of holdings do not have such a system. “Only a fraction of them will be able to install sprinklers,” explains de Werra, due to the gradient of the land and the proximity of water sources. Niklaus Ramseyer is pushing for new solutions. “For example, we could use dams to store the water in the winter, so that we can irrigate more effectively in the summer,” he suggests. Farmers can also try planting more robust or early blooming crops. In any case, the potato growers are It was a difficult year for Swiss potato farmers, with rain at the wrong time as well as very high temperatures that stunted growth and parched the soil. Photo: Keystone for example. The water must also come at the right time – in summer, when the potato variety grown for chips and crisps sinks its tubers into the earth. However, ever since 2021, there has been one heatwave after another. And potatoes don’t grow at temperatures over 30 degrees. In fact, the rain has also sometimes come at the worst possible moment, as in the summer of 2021, when it impeded the planting season. “The worst thing for the potato plant is extreme weather conditions,” comments Niklaus Ramseyer, general secretary of the Swiss “The worst thing for the potato plant is extreme weather conditions.” Niklaus Ramseyer, general secretary USPPT Swiss Review / December 2023 / No.6 10 Nature and the environment
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