The first quantities of fresh potatoes started being collected this week.
The difficulties of the sector were also addressed, and in particular:
- The presence of serious diseases that affect the quality and shelf-life of the tubers;
- The oversupply caused by a constant drop in demand;
- The presence on the market of foreign potatoes stocked from the previous year and the 4% increase of cultivated areas.
Participants have also evaluated all the advantages of the "Bologna" system and Framework agreement, such as:
- Strict checks performed by a specific technical committee which also issues cultivation guidelines in compliance with Emilia-Romagna production specifications.
- A scheduled campaign agreed upon in the Agreement and supervised by the POs.
The PDO production of certified Bologna potatoes increased considerably in 2014. In addition, selenium-enriched potatoes also achieved good results.
In such a difficult year like this one, participants looked for a dialogue with retailers to make use of deposit accounts so that Italian potatoes can continue being the main ones on the market reducing the need for imports.
The prices for packaged produce are: