Peru expects to produce 4.77 million tons of potatoes in the 2018/2019 campaign, which goes from August 2018 to July 2019, more than the 4.45 million tons it produced In the previous season (2017/2018), according to the General Agricultural Directorate (DGA) of the Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation (Minagri).
According to the entity, there will be 576 thousand tons of potato seeds available for the current campaign (2018/2019). They also estimated a loss of 716 thousand tons (15% of the total) and an excess of 260 thousand tons for the national supply ( 79,800 tons of which will be an excess of commercial offer).
The DGA of the Minagri stated that 99.8% of the 4.45 million tons produced in the 2017/2018 campaign was consumed in the domestic market while 0.2% (700 tons) was exported as processed potato.
They also stated that 19 regions of the country cultivated potatoes in the last campaign. The average productive yield amounted to 15.4 tons per hectare.
156 countries in the world sow potatoes. The main producers are China with 99.1 million tons, India with 43.8 million tons, Russia with 30.2 million tons, Ukraine with 21.8 million tons, and the United States with 19.9 million tons. Peru ranked 14th with 4.45 million tons. The world average productive yield is 19 tons per hectare.
In Latin America, Peru is the main producer of this product, followed by Brazil with 3.85 million tons, Colombia with 2.35 million tons, Mexico with 1.79 million tons, and Argentina with 1.75 million tons.
Source: agraria.pe