The Junn Potato Producers Association warns that in the face of the fertilizer crisis, some farmers have decided to switch to another area.
In August the 2022-2023 agricultural campaign officially begins, however the National Convention of the Agro Peruano (Conveagro) will be up to 30% of food production such as rice, potatoes, corn, legumes and vegetables that will be left aside due to lack of fertilizers.
Only in the case of potatoes, the Junn Potato Producers Association warns that the cultivation of the product in the department will fall by around 15% as a result of this crisis.
For this campaign, due to the lack of fertilizers, there is going to be a 15% decrease in the intention of planting potatoes in Junn, fertilizer is essential for planting potatoes and if one wants to acquire the cost is going to be too much, he said. Freddy García, president of the Junn Potato Producers Association.
Faced with this situation, the representative of the potato producers pointed out that from September an increase in the precio of this product.
At the moment when there are still potatoes, we are not feeling (the effect of the fertilizer crisis), we are in a big campaign. We talked that in September, October it will be felt, potatoes will be a little more expensive (it will go up) 50 cents more or 1 sol more, depending on the markets. The problem is also that the wholesalers sometimes when the potato goes up, they hide it and worse the prices go up. prices and those who win the most are the intermediaries, he told RPP.
García maintains that currently in wholesale markets a kilo of potatoes is sold for about S/ 2.50, with Huamantanga, yellow and Peruvian potatoes being the ones that have risen the most. precio in the last few months.
According to the Municipal Market Company SA (Emmsa), in wholesalers in Lima the precio of the potato ranges between S/ 1.55 and S/ 2.75 per kilo. But, how much does it cost to produce this food that is part of the basic family basket?
Currently, since the pandemic began, it costs Junn farmers about S/ 18,000 to produce a hectare of potatoes, when before it cost between S/ 12,000 and S/ 15,000 less. With the shortage of fertilizers, he points out that the situation has worsened because the high cost has led many farmers to change their field.
15% will stop planting, this will have two effects: One that the market will rise and the other that there will not be enough supply. The potato is the one that consumes most of the fertilizers, the potato producers have switched to carrots, garlic, broad beans, peas, others have already left the farm and gone to work as a laborer or look for another item or rancherexplic.
The representative of the Junn potato producers added that before the pandemic, potato consumption per capita was an average of 82 kilos, and now we estimate that with this increase it will drop to 60 or 70 kilos.
In addition, he pointed out that 30% of the potato produced in Junn is sent to Lima, a figure that has fallen in recent months due to the rise in fertilizer, since before it was 40%.
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