New Zealand potato growers are losing prime land to urban sprawl. More than 3,000 ha has already been lost since 2016. At that time, 11,680 ha of land was used for growing potatoes, but according to Potatoes New Zealand, this has dropped to 8,424 ha.
New PNZ chief executive Kate Trufitt: “We are seeing highly productive land being gobbled up by housing. This is a concern not only for NZ but worldwide where we are seeing the demand for potatoes outstripping the supply.” According to Truffit, other challenges facing potato growers are compliance and regulatory changes, rising costs, global markets and change in diets.
The potato sector remains important to the economy; farmgate value of potatoes is $174 million with $118 mln earned in exports. The country’s 174 growers produce 419,000 tons of potatoes and about 234,000 tons of that are processed. Exports are made up of frozen fries and fresh potatoes.
Source: ruralnewsgroup.co.nz
