Colombia (Nariño): Million-dollar losses and threats to the potato production sector

The constant fall in prices has generated serious losses for those who grow this tuber, reaching amounts of up to twenty million pesos per hectare.

Several factors converge to cause this situation: lower domestic consumption, smuggling, oversupply, and the importation of potato products. These conditions have particularly affected farmers in key departments such as Nariño, Boyacá, and Cundinamarca.

Senator Richard Fuentes has pointed out that other cheaper foods such as cassava and plantains have been gaining ground compared to potatoes, while domestic potato production has decreased by nearly 13%. Furthermore, imported frozen potato starch is already replacing nearly 12.7% of what is produced locally.

In Nariño, producers also face the phytosanitary problem known as "purple tip," which deteriorates crop quality. This scourge has caused many crops to go unsold by the industry, forcing farmers to take their produce to markets, generating saturation and further lower prices.

Given this situation, a call has been made to open urgent channels of dialogue between producers, unions, and the national government to design short-, medium-, and long-term actions. Within this framework, a national meeting of potato producers will be held on July 21 in Villa Pinzón, Cundinamarca, where ministries are expected to participate to discuss measures to mitigate the sector’s deterioration.

Potato farming not only provides a livelihood for hundreds of families, but is also an important component of national food sovereignty, occurring in at least 18 departments across the country.