Minister Gustavo Mostajo said he would focus on increasing the farmers' productivity. The new head of the Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation (Minagri), Gustavo Mostajo, said that they wouldn't continue purchasing the surplus potatoes from Peruvian producers, a measure that cost the previous administration about S /.50 millions. "The solution isn't buying the product and putting it back on the market," he said after a meeting of the Council of Ministers.
The official said that the Minagri would establish an information system that would help producers make decisions. This, after taking into account that the increase in potato supply was caused by a lack of coordination in the harvests in the potato producing regions. "We are seeing how feasible it is to regulate the sowing and harvesting of the product," Mostajo added.
Through the Agrorural program, last February the Minagri decided to buy the producers' potato surplus to end the strike in at least six regions of the country between January 31 and February 2, 2018. At the beginning of the year the regional governments of Apurimac, Ayacucho, Huancavelica, Huanuco and Junin also used the money from the Regional Compensation Fund (Foncor) to acquire the surplus of white potatoes from the producers of these regions that had been on strike between January 9 and 10.
Source: semanaeconomica.com