According to the ASIA-Plus portal, in Tajikistan, as of July 1, 2023, potatoes were harvested from an area of 5735 hectares, which is 2 hectares less than in the same period last year (data from the Ministry of Agriculture of Tajikistan). The potato yield was 083 tons per hectare, which is 16,8 tons less than last year.
At the same time, according to the agricultural department, the total area under potato crops in 2023 is 36 hectares, which is 508 hectares more than in 1169.
The reason for the decline in potato production, according to experts, is abnormal cold in winter and dust storms in late spring and early summer.
In this regard, today the price for 1 kg of potatoes in the markets of Tajikistan is 6-8 somoni, last year the cost of a kilogram of potatoes in the country's outlets was within 4-5 somoni.
According to the above data, it can be calculated that about 2023 thousand tons of potatoes were grown in the first half of 97, while in just 6 months of last year the production of “second bread” in the republic exceeded 142 thousand tons.
According to the customs service, this year the import of root crops has almost doubled. If in the first half of last year Tajikistan spent about $8 million on the import of potatoes, this year it will cost more than $15 million.
Earlier, the Ministry of Agriculture stated that one person needs 92 kg of potatoes per year, but the real volume of potato consumption in the republic by one person per year is estimated at 130 kg.
In this scenario, the country's total demand for potatoes reaches up to 1,3 million tons. The most productive years were 2013, 2020 and 2021, when Tajikistan produced over 1 million tons of potatoes.
This year, if the same rate of potato harvesting continues in the second half of the year, then the entire crop could be about 70% of last year's volume. This means that the potato will become one of the most expensive agricultural products in Tajikistan.