News on Potatoes for processing from Asia

Despite challenges, the potato Industry in Nepal is undergoing significant developments. Among them: the opening of the first large scale French fry production facility in the country.

In a first of its kind initiative by any food processor on the Indian subcontinent, the biggest potato processor from the country, Iscon Balaji Foods, has organised a month-long exhaustive farmers’ training programme to share the best agricultural practices for sustainability in the value chain.

M S International - a major exporter of potatoes for processing - has received the prestigious FIEO (WR) Export Excellence Award in the Emerging Exporter (MSME) category for the year 2020-2021.

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

Pakistan's Variety Evaluation Committee (VEC) has recommended repeat one-season trials for four table potato varieties - Cristina, GR-t33-13-2 (SANDRA), Rosegarden, and Primnsk - at research stations in Abbottabad and Islamabad.

Iscon Balaji Foods Pvt Ltd's growing French fry production has caused a revolution in potato cultivation that has transformed the lives of over 8,000 farmers across India.

SV Agri organized its Annual Variety and Seed Farm Show from January 8th to 10th, featuring the display of 14 new potato varieties.

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

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 potato variety FL-2027 (commercial name FC-5) used for the production of potato chips was registered by PepsiCo India Holdings in India and the registration was granted in February 2016 under the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights Act, 2001, but the registration was revoked in 2021.

Drinks like sake and wine are often appreciated for their regional characteristics that are deeply rooted in the environmental conditions from the crop used. So, why not potato chips too?

On August 25, 2023 the third edition of DLG’s 'Potato Days Türkiye', the only trade fair in Turkey dedicated to potato cultivation, will take place in Cappadocia, Nevsehir.

A Japanese company has expressed interest to import potatoes from Bangladesh, said Agriculture Minister Dr Abdur Razzaque. The minister said this while addressing a program at Westin Hotel in Tokyo on Thursday (April 27).

PepsiCo India, through its brand 'Lay’s', announced a crop and plot-level predictive intelligence model to help farmers maximize potato yields coupled with quality via functional dashboards on user-friendly mobile apps.

(Indo-)Dutch companies providing solutions from planting material to processing equipment believe there are ways to establish more sustainable value chains, with the help of their technologies.

India which is the second-largest producer of potatoes in the world has witnessed a bumper crop in the November–February harvest. And, the farmers are not quite happy with this as the oversupply has brought down the prices, making farmers incur losses.

Planting of potatoes for processing in North Gujarat was completed by November 2022. Harvest is to begin around February 20, 2023, and production is expected to be 1.9M tons.

Export data show that from January to September 2022, India exported about 153,000 tons of fresh or refrigerated potatoes suitable for the production of potato chips, an increase of 42% compared to last year.