Peru: Could, once again, have an overproduction of potatoes

Victoriano Fernandez, the president of the Association of Potato Producers of Peru (APPAPA Peru), one of the 12 guilds of representatives in the country, said that many producers misunderstood what started as a lifeline for potato farmers as a message for them: "there is a safe buyer, the State."

"Many people say, if the State is going to pay, we have to plant potatoes, so now many people are planting this crop and that’s going to be a problem," said Fernandez.

Higher productivity

Victoriano Fernandez said the the Ministry of Agriculture shouldn’t buy the overproduction, but that they should offer producers more market options. "What we need is for the Ministry of Agriculture to tell us what volume each region should sow; we don’t have that information," he said.

Another problem is that the productivity levels per hectare in the whole country are not the same, as there are some regions where producers obtain 36 tons per hectare, while other regions only produce 6 tons per hectare.

Producers also met with representatives of the National Institute of Agrarian Research (INIA), to see if they could obtain improved seeds. This would allow them to increase their productivity.

"As far as we know, the area sown will be the same as last year, and in some regions producers have already started sowing this crop without precise information. They’re calm because they’re sure that the State will buy part of the production. That’s not good, but it’s how things are," he said.