Potatoes have become a growing concern for the Aragonese Government and have been included in the list of priorities for its Council of Agriculture. The production has been sinking year after year. In less than twenty years, almost 90% of the acreage devoted to the cultivation of this tuber has been lost. Potatoes have been relegated to the category of a minor crop.
The matter has become such a big issue that the regional Government has launched a cooperation project with private entrepreneurs with the financial support of the European Union and with the participation of researchers and experts from the Centre for Agro-Food Transformation (CTA). The goal: finding an improved potato variety that gives the best possible yields and which has the characteristics to become especially attractive in the market. To this end, they have chosen a specific Agria variety because "of its suitability for frying" and the demand that exists in the market, as pointed out by the regional government.
The Councillor of Agriculture, Joaquin Olona, has made a public call to producers to encourage them to grow potatoes and resume this activity that has been falling into oblivion in a worryingly quick manner.
According to this member of the Aragonese Government, the data are conclusive: at the end of the 90's, Aragon had 5,000 hectares devoted to the cultivation of potatoes; now, only 600 hectares. That is to say, the acreage devoted to growing potatoes has plummeted by 88% in less than twenty years.
Source: abc.es
