Israel: After slow start, Israeli potato season looks good

“There was a slight delay at the start of the season that affected the yield of the winter crop by about 15 or 20 percent,” explained Yaniv Yablonka of Yapro Ltd. “But that had no effect whatsoever on the quality of product currently harvested.” For the product that’s now available, the market has been receptive. Current prices are higher than those from previous years, added Yaniv, due in part to robust demand.

“We are seeing strong demand for the early crop, particularly for the firm cooking products,” he noted. “And, unlike last year, relatively high prices of local European products are helping introduce imported new season potatoes.”

Production this season is expected to be on par with that of previous years, and exports are expected to reach 230,000 tons for the season, which runs from now until June. Yapro sells firm cooking potatoes, semi-firm potatoes, baby potatoes as well as organic varieties. The target export markets include the U.K., Germany, Holland, Belgium, Italy, Spain, Poland, Switzerland and some Scandinavian countries. Total annual exports for the company are around 33,000 tons, which include carrots and sweet potatoes in addition to the potatoes grown in the south of Israel.

“This year, we have changed the way potato seeds are imported to Israel from Europe and we have better control and involvement in the whole process,” said Yaniv, “from importing seeds throughout the growing stages and all the way to the final clients. Until now, the seed importing in to Israel was centrally managed, and we are now bringing the seeds companies closer to the fields in Israel, and the whole system is managed differently to be of benefit to both the farmers and the final clients.”

For more information:

Yaniv Yablonka

Yapro

Tel: +972 88 602 610

Mob: +972 54 7 916 342

Yaniv@yapro.co.il

ne Potato Board to help protect the quality of a key agricultural export, Hobbs said they are lucky no potato growers in North America are dealing with Dickeya solani, the more active species of the bacteria found in Europe that causes huge crop losses and is grounds for a quarantine.