Potato Harvest Causes Price Drop in Moldova and Ukraine
This year, farmers in Moldova and Ukraine have had a high potato harvest, but prices have dropped to a minimum level in the last three years. This was reported by Logos Press.
According to the expert of the company IM “Expert Agroteh” SRL, Serhiy Alba, the yield in specialized farms in Moldova reached 70-80 tons/ha. This means that only large enterprises have supplied the market with tens of thousands of tons of produce. Even with a reduction in potato acreage to 15 thousand hectares, local production will exceed 200 thousand tons, two-thirds of which will be commercial potatoes.
The maximum purchase price in Moldova is currently 4.5-5.5 lei/kg (9.5-11.5 UAH/kg), while last year it was 50% higher. In Ukraine, traders offer even less – around 3.1-3.2 lei/kg (6.5-6.7 UAH/kg). Due to expensive logistics, Ukrainian potatoes do not yet threaten the Moldovan market, but internal prices remain low.
“Farmers are storing significant amounts of potatoes in the hope of price increases during the cold period of the year,” Alba noted.
Fuente: agronews.ua
