The 13 major potato States held 134 million cwt of potatoes in storage April 1, 2018, up 2 percent from April 1, 2017 according to a USDA report released last week.
Great Britain potato stock levels held by growers are estimated at 2.4Mt as at the end of January. This represents the largest end-January stocks figure since the stocks survey began in 2010.
During the International Potato Technology Expo on Prince Edward Island (PEI) in Canada, John Walsh, Associate Principal Scientist, Potato Storage at McCain Foods, warned farmers for the effects of low levels of CIPC on seed potato performance.
AHDB Potatoes announced earlier this month that GB potato stock levels for the end of November are estimated at 3.6M tonnes, the highest level for this point in the season since 2011/12.
An ammonia gas leak from a cold storage plant near Agra (UP, India) has caused damage to potato crops across four nearby villages, affecting some 500 farmers in the area.
According to a GAIN-report prepared by the USDA staff in Beijing, China’s fresh potato production in marketing year 2017-2018 is forecast at 97 million metric tons, a five percent increase from the estimated 92 million metric tons in the previous year.
Potato farmers in the Indian state Punjab are headed for another season of dwindling profits because the cold storage facilities are still flooded with old crop - and several other states are in a similar situation.
