Bolivian potato production decreased due to drought by 15% to 60 thousand tons compared to the 2016 harvest. Updated statistics were provided by the Minister of Agricultural Land Development of the country, Cesar Kokariko.
The government has begun developing a strategy for moving potato cultivation to non-potato-growing areas. In particular, they plan to plant potato fields in the areas of Tarija and Santa Cruz, where weather conditions are more favorable.
Earlier, the Ministry of Agriculture of Bolivia, together with the National Institute for Forestry and Agriculture Research (INIAF), expressed their willingness to support potato producers to compete with imported potatoes from Peru.
According to estimates by the National Institute of Statistics Bolivia (INE), each Bolivian consumes at least 95 kg of potatoes annually. Last year, the potato deficit amounted to 26 thousand tons with supplies of 995 thousand tons and demand in the amount of more than 1 million tons.
Source: fruitnews