Growers from the Russian region of Astrakhan have started harvesting early potatoes, with prospects to reach 200,000 tonnes; similar to last year's figure. "We plan to harvest about 200,000 tonnes of very early and early potatoes. Most are grown in the Liman and Harabalinskogo area, but the acreage is expanding in areas such as Nariman, Enataevskom and Achtubinskiy," stated the Minister of Agriculture of the Astrakhan region, Ivan Nesterenko, noting that due to region's climate, the potato harvest begins earlier than in other regions of Russia.
Traditionally, a large part of the potatoes grown in the Astrakhan are shipped to destinations outside the region. According to the head of the regional Ministry of Agriculture, Astrakhan's very early and early potatoes started to compete with imported produce supplied by countries in Northern Africa.
In addition to supplying other Russian regions, Astrakhan growers have also started exporting potatoes to Belarus.
According to Rosstat, Russia's potato harvest last year amounted to 30.2 million tonnes, which is 2.2% more than in 2012.
Source: charter97.org
