Potato [Solanum tuberosum]
Potatoes are nutritious vegetables and form the staple diet of millions of people.
Potatoes
South Africa's potato output has grown strongly over the past decades, from 1.2 million tonnes in 1990 to a record 2.5 million tonnes in 2015. In the same period, the potato farming area actually declined, from 63,000 ha to 52,000 ha. Most of the 532 farms growing potatoes (2017) are relatively large farms, increasingly under irrigation (now around 80%), with yields averaging around 34 tonnes per hectare.
