Sources from the agricultural sector confirmed that Venezuela would buy Canadian potato seeds for the production of potatoes destined for the industry and people.
"The government announced that it would import 9,000 tons of seeds this month, which is enough to plant 4,500 hectares. Since our average yield rate is 12,000 kilos per hectare, this will result in about 54 million kilos," said the director of the vegetable sector of the Federation of Agricultural Producers, Emmanuel Escalona.
The negotiation includes 6,000 tons of granola and kennebec potato varieties for fresh consumption, and 3,000 tons of the Atlantis variety, which is used for industrial processing, said producer Ortega Aldemaro.
Agropatria, a state company, is carrying out the purchase with subsidized currencies.
According to Escalona and Ortega, national production in recent planting cycles (2014-2015) decreased by half because of the use of low quality seeds. Traditionally production amounts to 300,000 tons, two thirds of which are harvested in the Andes, in the Southwest of Venezuela.
According to Escalona, the purchase of these seeds in Canada will only cover a small part of domestic consumption. Ortega, in turn, believes it will be enough to cover 80 percent of the demand in the next cycle.
Vicente Perez, another leader of the Federation of Producers, said that nearly 70 percent of the seeds used to grow Venezuela's main crops, such as cereals, legumes, and vegetables, were imported.
Venezuela has 30 million inhabitants that consume an average of 15 kilos of potatoes per year. Meanwhile, the per capita average potato consumption in Colombia is 80 kg / year, and in some European countries consumption is at about 100 kg/year per inhabitant.
Source: mundo.sputniknews.com