Mexico (Perote): The price of potatoes falls to $1 per kilo.

The situation for producers is unusual, as after several years of drought, the rains in 2025 were exceptionally abundant, which boosted this year’s harvest. However, this abundance ended up causing a market saturation.

Currently, the price per kilo barely reaches one peso.

Mariano Domínguez López, a farmer in the area, explained that this value is well below the eight pesos it costs to produce a kilogram of potatoes.

Our potatoes are almost all in storage (...) The price dropped to one peso per kilo, he commented in an interview with Excélsior.

This situation has caused serious economic problems for families that depend on agriculture.

Domínguez López and other producers fear that if potato marketing does not resume before April, at least 50% of the harvest could be lost due to spoilage.

Demand has also shown a notable drop. According to Domínguez López, wholesalers who used to buy tons are now acquiring much smaller quantities.

Previously, some customers would come to the community of El Conejo and buy up to a thousand boxes of potatoes per week; now, they barely take between 100 and 200 boxes.

This decrease in sales has resulted in large quantities of potatoes remaining in storage, or even being left unharvested in the field.

Much of the production, which was originally intended to be sold between October and January, remains unsold due to a lack of buyers, jeopardizing the recovery of the costs invested in its production.

Domínguez López explained that numerous families dedicated to potato farming are registering significant economic losses.

The meager profits have reduced the possibility of acquiring basic products such as corn, which is essential for many families.

For now, producers see the reactivation of regional consumption as the only way out, hoping that residents near the community will begin to buy local potatoes.

"If they buy from us, the money circulates right here and we can acquire what they offer in the cities," the producer explained.

Furthermore, he pointed out that even urban areas could benefit from the current low price of the product. Paradoxically, although it is abundant in the fields, it is not generating profits for those who cultivate it.