News on Potato Stats, Trade, Prices from Asia

Potato prices in India have increased nearly 50% in a month from March to April.

High input cost and unfavorable weather hit potato output in Bangladesh, with late blight causing added damage.

In a significant stride towards facilitating global potato trade, 1,4GROUP and DormFresh has announced the attainment of Import Tolerance for the sprout inhibitor 1,4-dimethylnaphthalene (1,4-DMN) in Japan.

In a surprising turn of events, the export of potato varieties for processing from India has skyrocketed in January 2024, surging approximately sevenfold.

After Cyclone Michaung, heavy rains caused crop damage, leading to a decrease in supply and subsequent price spikes. Potato prices may remain high until the affected areas recover their potato production capacity.

In a full-blown attack by the disease late blight, more than 50% potato crop in the fields has suffered extensive damage, leading to heavy losses for the farmers who had opted for diversification instead of growing wheat after paddy.

High-altitude areas of district Ramban like Gool, Mahu Mangit and Sanasar could become major potato seed producer areas and make the local farmers self-sufficient.

With national elections scheduled for January 7, 2024, the Bangladesh government has implemented measures to address the alarming surge in potato prices.

Bangladesh Commerce Ministry, in a report, says high prices are the result of price manipulation by a syndicate of cold-storage owners.

The first-ever shipments of 77 tonnes of potatoes have arrived from India for domestic consumption in Bangladesh - traditionally an exporter of the root vegetable - amid government efforts to ease the price.

For the first time, nearly 29 MT of potatoes from Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India were exported to Guyana in South America through Farmers Producers Organisation (FPO).

Potato prices in Bangladesh are soaring even though farmers this year grew a record 1.04 crore tonnes, cutting the buying power of consumers, especially fixed and low-income people already battered by sustained high inflation.

Following a satisfactory experience with exporting potatoes to the United Arab Emirates in recent weeks, several other Gulf states are now lining up to buy the starchy vegetable produced from the farms of the Kurdistan Region

What happens when Asia’s biggest potato chip maker runs out of potatoes? Japanese snack brand Calbee had to learn the hard way.

The export of early potatoes is not such a significant position in Uzbekistan’s fresh fruits and vegetables segment. However, the volume of deliveries of Uzbek potatoes to Kazakhstan in May-July this year reached a record high for at least the last two decades.

According to the long-term plan, about 1.1 million tons of potatoes will be harvested in Tajikistan in 2023, Khovar reports with reference to the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Tajikistan.

Fresh potato production for MY 2022/23 (September to August) is forecast at 93 million metric tons (MMT), a small decrease from the estimated 95 MMT produced in MY 2021/22 owing to reduced acreage.

The extension of the existing import policy for potato between India and Bhutan brings clarity and eliminates the need for additional documentation.