Potatoes, Solanum tuberosum

Genetic tests show that potato-farming started between 3000BC and 2000BC in Peru. To this day this crop is of utter importance to Peruvians, as each consumes on the average 530 potatoes per year. Potato is a number 4 crop worldwide, after  wheat, rice, and maize.  China was the biggest producer, (over) 69 059 652 tonnes produced in 2009. China increased its potatoes production over 5 times compared with 1961, and they've been a leading producer at least since the fall of Soviet Union in 1991.
Major producer and major consumer per capita is Belarus, they produced 751 kg, or  1667 pounds per capita  in 2009. Average Belorussian (yes, including babies) eats 381-400 kg of potatoes per year. 1.85%  of Belarusian territory is used for potato farming, which is also a record.
In 2009 ,  329 556 911 tons were produced worldwide.  If we 'd put 1-foot deep sacks of potatoes with this crop together, it would cover  a field 248 miles long and 10 miles wide.
  It comes out to  48.4 kg , or 107.5 pounds of potatoes  per potential consumer of 2009. If you would decide to eat nothing but your "share" of potatoes, it would last you over 18 days at 2000 calories per day.
Worldwide, potatoes can feed  348.4 million people for an entire year , or an entire population of United States,  Saudi  Arabia and Barbados combined. There is  enough protein for 360 million people.
In 2009, 18 326 242+ hectares were under potato production. That's a territory slighter smaller than Syria, and slightly larger than Cambodia or North Dakota. It is also almost 1.17% of all arable land in the world.

Best crop world wide was in 2004,  336.25 million tonnes, worst, since 1961-- in 1980, 240.46 million tonnes.
Best yields world wide were in 2008, 18 004.7 kg/hectare , worst, since 1961--12 216.6  kg/ha  ( 1961)
Record yield belongs to Belgium,  over 49.1 tonnes per hectare (1993)

Land usage : today  we use about 82%  of what we used  in 1961.

Seeds:  about 32.1 million tonnes of potatoes were used as seeds.

World crop is estimated to be $60-70 billion worth.


List of all articles at Ironrye:
 http://ironrye.blogspot.com/2011/10/list-of-all-articles-at-iron-rye.html




  Production by country:

	item	2007		2008		2009
Afghanistan	Potatoes	300800		280000			M
Albania	Potatoes	154900		190000		200000
Algeria	Potatoes	1506859		2171058		2636057
Angola	Potatoes	491216		402207		823266
Argentina	Potatoes	1950000	F	1950000	F		M
Armenia	Potatoes	579571		648562		593551
Australia	Potatoes	1211988		1400206		1178534
Austria	Potatoes	668755		756945		722098
Azerbaijan	Potatoes	1037317		1077110		982979
Bahamas	Potatoes		M		M		M
Bahrain	Potatoes	23		23	F		M
Bangladesh	Potatoes	5167000		6648000			M
Belarus	Potatoes	8743976		8748630		7124981
Belgium	Potatoes	3189817		2943205		3296400
Belize	Potatoes	478		865		1065
Benin	Potatoes	30	F	30	F		M
Bermuda	Potatoes	1100	F	1100	F		M
Bhutan	Potatoes	61133		61133	F		M
Bolivia (Plurinational State of)	Potatoes	735254		747968		762719
Bosnia and Herzegovina	Potatoes	387239		428635		413658
Brazil	Potatoes	3550510		3676938		3434587
Bulgaria	Potatoes	298722		353060		231745
Burkina Faso	Potatoes	1700	F	1700	F		M
Burundi	Potatoes	26693		26693	F		M
Cameroon	Potatoes	142000	F	142000	F	142000	F
Canada	Potatoes	4999424		4724460		4581123
Cape Verde	Potatoes	3800	F	3800	F		M
Central African Republic	Potatoes	1000	F	1000	F	1000	F
Chad	Potatoes	67466		42200			M
Chile	Potatoes	834223		965767		924555
China	Potatoes	64837389		68759652	*	69059652	F
Colombia	Potatoes	2823362		2372862		2272772
Comoros	Potatoes	600	F	600	F	600	F
Congo	Potatoes	4300	F	4500	F		M
Costa Rica	Potatoes	66050		66126		73606
Côte d'Ivoire	Potatoes		M		M		M
Croatia	Potatoes	296302		255554		270251
Cuba	Potatoes	143700		196100		278600
Cyprus	Potatoes	155500		115000		131800
Czech Republic	Potatoes	820515		769561			M
Democratic People's Republic of Korea	Potatoes	1900000	F	1520280			M
Democratic Republic of the Congo	Potatoes	93560		93980			M
Denmark	Potatoes	1625580		1705403		1750000	F
Dominica	Potatoes	120	F	120	F		M
Dominican Republic	Potatoes	41794		33035			M
Ecuador	Potatoes	317221		266722		286790
Egypt	Potatoes	2760460		3567050		4000000	F
El Salvador	Potatoes	5178		5748		5326
Eritrea	Potatoes	1022		1000	F	1050	F
Estonia	Potatoes	191754		125200		139050
Ethiopia	Potatoes	525657		402508		384046	*
Faroe Islands	Potatoes	1400	F	1400	F		M
Fiji	Potatoes	80	F	80	F		M
Finland	Potatoes	701600		684400		755300
France	Potatoes	7183100		6808210		7164200
French Polynesia	Potatoes	600	F	600	F		M
Georgia	Potatoes	229200		193400		216700
Germany	Potatoes	11643769		11369000		11617500
Greece	Potatoes	943196		848000		848000
Guadeloupe	Potatoes		M		M		M
Guatemala	Potatoes	451673		451673	F		M
Guinea	Potatoes	11876		12167			M
Haiti	Potatoes	14500		15000			M
Honduras	Potatoes	23650		29326		31379
Hungary	Potatoes	563100		683935		560615
Iceland	Potatoes	13000		12500		9500
India	Potatoes	28599600		34658000		34391000
Indonesia	Potatoes	1003730		1044492		1174668
Iran (Islamic Republic of)	Potatoes	4026412		4706722		4107626
Iraq	Potatoes	598000		348773		223147
Ireland	Potatoes	398960		371900		361300
Israel	Potatoes	618803		557917		608832
Italy	Potatoes	1781648		1603828		1753200
Jamaica	Potatoes	7477		4929			M
Japan	Potatoes	2873000		2743000		2785000	F
Jordan	Potatoes	97400		139787		118705
Kazakhstan	Potatoes	2414800		2354408		2755600
Kenya	Potatoes	850000	F	600000	F	400000
Kuwait	Potatoes	23500	F	23500	F		M
Kyrgyzstan	Potatoes	1373780		1334900		1393135
Lao People's Democratic Republic	Potatoes	36000	F	36000	F		M
Latvia	Potatoes	642100		673400		525400
Lebanon	Potatoes	514600		514600	F		M
Lesotho	Potatoes	93000	F	96500	F		M
Libyan Arab Jamahiriya	Potatoes	290000		290000			M
Lithuania	Potatoes	576100		716400		662500
Luxembourg	Potatoes	19968		21756		20044
Madagascar	Potatoes	225000	F	225000	F		M
Malawi	Potatoes	2858811		2993818			M
Mali	Potatoes	114478		120000	F		M
Malta	Potatoes	14146		19000		10069
Martinique	Potatoes		M		M		M
Mauritania	Potatoes	2200	F	2200	F		M
Mauritius	Potatoes	15367		14868		19828
Mexico	Potatoes	1750797		1670480			M
Mongolia	Potatoes	114490		134773		151211
Montenegro	Potatoes	106909		110000	F		M
Montserrat	Potatoes	150	F	150	F		M
Morocco	Potatoes	1437215		1536560			M
Mozambique	Potatoes	100000	F	100000	F		M
Myanmar	Potatoes	470700		470700	F		M
Nepal	Potatoes	1943246		2054817		2424048
Netherlands	Potatoes	6870400		6922700		7181000
New Caledonia	Potatoes	1803		1773		1488
New Zealand	Potatoes	432000	F	473000	F	490000	F
Nicaragua	Potatoes	33000	F	33000	F		M
Niger	Potatoes	32300		22620			M
Nigeria	Potatoes	662000		1105000			M
Norway	Potatoes	329765		398400		332700
Occupied Palestinian Territory	Potatoes	62840		69180			M
Oman	Potatoes	9067		9067	F		M
Pakistan	Potatoes	2581500		2539000		2941300
Panama	Potatoes	23688		22314			M
Papua New Guinea	Potatoes	900	*	900	F		M
Paraguay	Potatoes	1300	F	1250	F	1300	F
Peru	Potatoes	3388000		3578900		3716700
Philippines	Potatoes	118497		121311		119159
Poland	Potatoes	11791072		10462100		9702800
Portugal	Potatoes	638900		566600		519300
Qatar	Potatoes	44		44	F		M
Republic of Korea	Potatoes	574396		604592			M
Republic of Moldova	Potatoes	199400		271039		261000
Réunion	Potatoes	6000		7000	*		M
Romania	Potatoes	3712410		3649020		4003980
Russian Federation	Potatoes	36784200		28874230		31133960
Rwanda	Potatoes	967000		1162000		1200000	F
Saint Kitts and Nevis	Potatoes	126		239			M
Saint Pierre and Miquelon	Potatoes	0	*	0	F		M
Saudi Arabia	Potatoes	463000		447000			M
Senegal	Potatoes	10000		2825		3000	F
Serbia	Potatoes	743282		843545		898282
Slovakia	Potatoes	287667		245277		216123
Slovenia	Potatoes	131050		100319		103425
South Africa	Potatoes	1972391		2098581		1819250
Spain	Potatoes	2479582		2365500		2480800
Sri Lanka	Potatoes	77390		74820		61700
Sudan	Potatoes	263900		273000		284000
Swaziland	Potatoes	6000	F	6000	F		M
Sweden	Potatoes	789000		853200		854300
Switzerland	Potatoes	491000		473000		517000
Syrian Arab Republic	Potatoes	570128		720492		709601
Tajikistan	Potatoes	662093		679774		680000	F
Thailand	Potatoes	125703		114499		126386
The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia	Potatoes	180887		191106		207152
Timor-Leste	Potatoes	1000	F	1000	F		M
Tunisia	Potatoes	350000		370000		370000	F
Turkey	Potatoes	4246207		4196522		4397711
Turkmenistan	Potatoes	185000	F	240200			M
Uganda	Potatoes	650000		670000		689000
Ukraine	Potatoes	19102000		19545400		19666100
United Arab Emirates	Potatoes	7900	F	7900	F		M
United Kingdom	Potatoes	5635000		5999000		6423000
United Republic of Tanzania	Potatoes	650000	F	650000	F		M
United States of America	Potatoes	20179191		18826578		19569109
Uruguay	Potatoes	118362		106557		102287
Uzbekistan	Potatoes	1188000		1398700		1524500
Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of)	Potatoes	456661		421016			M
Viet Nam	Potatoes	370000	F	370000	F		M
Yemen	Potatoes	249010		263945		278022
Zambia	Potatoes	14500	F	10524			M
Zimbabwe	Potatoes	40000	F	40000	F		M
World + (Total)	Potatoes	322412701	A	325558724	A	329556911	A