Colombia (Cundipapa): Farmers in Cundinamarca sell potatoes at toll booths during the long weekend.

During the long weekend of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, the Cundipapa campaign will take place, an initiative that seeks to increase potato sales and improve the income of rural families in Cundinamarca. The activity will take place at nine access toll booths to Bogotá:  San Pedro, Nuevo Mondoñedo, El Roble, Boquerón,  Chinauta, Chusacá, Río de Bogotá, Los Andes, and Siberia, as well as in the municipalities of La Palma and San Juan de Rioseco.

With an investment of $2.5 billion,  this weekend, producers from different provinces will be able to sell their potatoes directly, without intermediaries, guaranteeing fair prices and fresh produce.

"We invite all tourists and residents of Cundinamarca passing through the department during this long weekend to stop at the toll booths. There, they will find our producers offering their potatoes directly,"  said Yecith Ángel, Deputy Manager of Partnerships and Associations at the Marketing Agency.

The strategy seeks to address the oversupply of the product, primarily affected by the entry of smuggled potatoes and the slow pace of industrialization, factors that have reduced prices below production costs. In response, the Government of Cundinamarca is advancing  tuber processing processes through maquila to produce  mashed potatoes ready for distribution and sale, which extends their shelf life and opens new marketing channels.