‘The drought has left its mark’: Slovenia’s potato lovers lament low yields

Hundreds gather to share roast potatoes in northern Slovenia as think tank warns ‘chips are down’ across Europe.

On the far left, small farmer Janez Jambrosic roasts his potatoes in vegetable oil. His harvest was cut in half this year due to the drought [Veronica Snoj/Al Jazeera]

Prekmurje, Slovenia – Lipovci, a village of about 1,000 residents in the flatlands of northeastern Slovenia, transformed into a hub celebrating a beloved national dish.

The air carried a sweet, juicy aroma as it hosted the 26th international festival of roasted potatoes.

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Hundreds of people and more than 50 societies were united – farmers and avid potato eaters from across the country, roasting their own versions of this national dish one September morning.

“I’m a potato guy, through and through,” Matjaz Lavric, from the capital, Ljubljana, who has attended the festival for the past 15 years, told Al Jazeera. “Life just isn’t the same without them … When I’m home, potatoes are always on the menu.”

His recipe’s key ingredient is tarragon. “I’d happily eat them as a main course.”

But local potatoes are getting harder to come by.

Estimates by the Chamber of Agriculture and Forestry of Slovenia suggest a loss of between 30 and 90 percent for this year’s potato harvest – the yield having been hit by Europe’s severe droughts.

In 2025, Slovenia produced only about a third of its total potato consumption, a rate that keeps dropping due to other factors including higher fertiliser prices, restrictions on pesticide use and low purchase prices.

Janez Jambrosic, a small farmer from the southern town of Velike Lasce, lost half of his potato harvest this year.

“The drought has left its mark,” he said.

He makes a lighter version of the dish, using vegetable oil instead of pork fat.

Lavric, whose potatoes were dug up from a friend’s farm, said this year’s lot was smaller.

“It took us much longer to peel them,” he said.

The International Festival of Roasted Potatoes, which started as a tongue-in-cheek event in the early 2000s, is held every year in a different location across Slovenia [Veronica Snoj/Al Jazeera]

Others said the drought also hit their corn yields, used for feedstock, and in some cases wiped them out almost entirely, as well as their wine-making grapes.

“The harvest was maybe a bit worse than in other years,” said Marija Bev from Dobrna in the country’s east.

The drought was most severe in the first half of August. As temperatures soared, the weather hit later potato varieties hardest.

Bev grows potatoes for her family’s needs, and dug hers up at the end of July.

“They’d already survived the worst of the drought by the time we put them in the cellar,” she added.

‘The chips are well and truly down’

The shortages extend far beyond Slovenia.

Analysis released on Thursday by the United Kingdom-based nonprofit Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) suggests that the summer drought is likely to knock about 3.1 million tonnes off the potato harvest in some of the world’s largest exporters, such as Germany, France, Belgium and the Netherlands.

“For potato growers on the front line of climate change, the chips are well and truly down,” said the think tank’s food and farming analyst Tom Lancaster.

“As we move into autumn, the impact of the record-breaking summer heat and drought on food and farming becomes clear … As one of Europe’s thirstiest crops, it was inevitable that the potato harvest would be hit hard, and we are starting to see that now in industry yield estimates, down 20 percent in some cases.”

Slovenia’s sector is characterised by small farms that families operate part-time, often passed down through generations.

In 1767, Empress Maria Theresa of Austria, who ruled the region at the time, issued a decree on the planting and cultivation of potatoes, a measure farmers initially resisted because they grew potatoes only to feed their livestock.

Now the potato has become so ingrained in local culture that there is even a Slovenian saying: Telling someone they “have potatoes” means they’re lucky.

A flag featuring a potato bug represents the festival [Veronica Snoj/Al Jazeera]

Petra Molek, from Carinthia, presented two versions of the roasted potatoes alongside other women farmers from her village. One was roasted in pork fat, the other in sausage fat.

“The potatoes we used were dug up two days ago, from her field,” she said, pointing to one of her colleagues. She feels fortunate as the potatoes were good growers, despite the conditions.

“It depends a lot on the type of potato and the location of the field,” she explained.

Marija Kovac, also from Carinthia, said roasted potatoes are a regular feature of the daily menu at home.

“On our farm, we always have roasted potatoes, any day of the week,” she said, handing out paper plates to offer a tasting of their version of the dish.

The gathering, which started as a tongue-in-cheek event in the early 2000s, is held every year in a different location across Slovenia.

Its founders run a society with a mission: To elevate roasted potatoes from their usual side-dish status to a main dish.

The group’s emblem features the potato bug, the growers’ biggest “frenemy” – a killer but also, like the organisers, a potato lover. At one point, attendees sang a hymn praising the national dish. Debates on the taste of the dish buzzed around the stands, alongside the sounds of the accordion.

“We all pretty much know how to make roasted potatoes,” said Bev. “But the main point is to have fun.”

在智库警告称欧洲各地“薯条价格下跌”之际，数百人在斯洛文尼亚北部聚集享用烤土豆。

最左边，小农户雅内兹·詹布罗西奇正在用植物油烤土豆。由于干旱，他今年的收成减半。[维罗妮卡·斯诺伊/半岛电视台]

斯洛文尼亚普雷克穆列——利波夫齐，一个位于斯洛文尼亚东北部平原、拥有约 1000 名居民的村庄，变成了一个庆祝深受喜爱的国民美食的中心。

空气中弥漫着香甜多汁的香味，这里正在举办第26届国际烤土豆节。

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厄尔尼诺现象达到超级水平的4个结果中的第3个：它将给哪些地区带来降雨、干旱和高温？

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九月份的一个早晨，来自全国各地的数百人和 50 多个社团齐聚一堂——农民和土豆爱好者们，烤制着他们各自版本的这道国民美食。

“我彻头彻尾是个土豆迷，”来自首都卢布尔雅那的马蒂亚兹·拉夫里奇告诉半岛电视台。他已经连续15年参加土豆节了。“没有土豆，生活就不一样了……我在家的时候，餐桌上总少不了土豆。”

他的食谱中最重要的原料是龙蒿。“我很乐意把它们当主菜吃。”

但是本地产的土豆越来越难买到了。

斯洛文尼亚农业和林业商会估计，今年马铃薯的收成将损失 30% 至 90%——产量受到欧洲严重干旱的影响。

2025年，斯洛文尼亚的马铃薯产量仅占其总消费量的三分之一左右，而且由于化肥价格上涨、农药使用限制和收购价格低等其他因素，这一比例还在持续下降。

来自南部城镇韦利克·拉斯切的小农户雅内兹·詹布罗西奇今年损失了一半的土豆收成。

“干旱留下了痕迹，”他说。

他用植物油代替猪油，制作了一道更清淡的版本。

拉夫里克说，他今年的土豆是从朋友的农场挖出来的，今年的土豆地块比往年小。

“我们花了很长时间才把它们剥开，”他说。

国际烤土豆节始于 2000 年代初期的一个玩笑性质的活动，如今每年都在斯洛文尼亚的不同地点举行。[Veronica Snoj/半岛电视台]

其他人则表示，干旱也影响了他们用作饲料的玉米产量，在某些情况下几乎完全摧毁了玉米，酿酒葡萄也未能幸免。

“今年的收成可能比往年差一些，”来自该国东部多布尔纳的玛丽亚·贝夫说道。

8月上半月旱情最为严重。随着气温飙升，晚熟马铃薯品种受到的冲击最大。

贝芙为家人种植土豆，她在七月底把土豆挖了出来。

她补充说：“当我们把它们放进地窖时，它们已经熬过了最严重的旱灾时期。”

“形势已经彻底恶化了”

物资短缺的情况远不止斯洛文尼亚。

英国非营利组织能源与气候情报机构 (ECIU) 周四发布的分析表明，夏季干旱可能会使德国、法国、比利时和荷兰等一些世界最大马铃薯出口国的马铃薯产量减少约 310 万吨。

“对于处于气候变化前线的马铃薯种植户来说，形势已经非常严峻了，”该智库的食品和农业分析师汤姆·兰卡斯特说。

“随着秋季的到来，破纪录的夏季高温和干旱对粮食和农业的影响逐渐显现……作为欧洲最需水量最大的作物之一，马铃薯的收成受到严重影响是不可避免的，我们现在已经开始从行业产量预估中看到这一点，在某些情况下，产量下降了 20%。”

斯洛文尼亚的农业部门以小型农场为特色，这些农场由家庭兼职经营，通常代代相传。

1767年，当时统治该地区的奥地利女皇玛丽亚·特蕾莎颁布了一项关于种植和培育土豆的法令，农民们最初抵制这项措施，因为他们种植土豆只是为了喂养牲畜。

如今，土豆已经深深融入了当地文化，甚至斯洛文尼亚还有一句谚语：告诉别人他们“有土豆”就意味着他们很幸运。

一面带有土豆虫的旗帜代表着这个节日 [Veronica Snoj/半岛电视台]

来自克恩顿州的佩特拉·莫莱克和她村里的其他女农民一起展示了两种烤土豆的做法。一种是用猪油烤的，另一种是用香肠油烤的。

“我们用的土豆是两天前从她地里挖出来的，”她指着一位同事说。她觉得自己很幸运，因为尽管条件艰苦，这些土豆长势良好。

“这很大程度上取决于土豆的品种和田地的位置，”她解释说。

同样来自克恩顿州的玛丽亚·科瓦奇表示，烤土豆是她家日常菜单上的常客。

“在我们农场，我们每天都会烤土豆，”她说，同时分发纸盘，邀请大家品尝他们家的烤土豆。

这项聚会始于 2000 年代初，最初只是一个玩笑性质的活动，如今每年都在斯洛文尼亚的不同地点举行。

其创始人运营着一个以“将烤土豆从通常的配菜地位提升为主菜”为使命的社团。

该组织的标志是马铃薯甲虫，它是种植户最大的“亦敌亦友”——既是害虫，又像组织者一样，是马铃薯的忠实拥趸。活动期间，与会者齐声高唱赞美国菜的赞歌。在手风琴的伴奏下，展台上热烈讨论着马铃薯的味道。

“我们基本上都知道怎么做烤土豆，”贝芙说。“但最重要的是玩得开心。”