The Agricultural Statistics Office (DIEA) of the Ministry of Livestock, Agriculture and Fisheries (MGAP) published the results of the Potato Survey “Autumn 2023” where bad news was perceived for the agricultural sector due to the impacts of the drought.
While autumn brings bad news for the potato harvest, with a 14% less than expectations since last year planting was 2,538 hectares, last year’s spring and summer product cycle brought worse news.
During the productive cycle between spring-summer between last year and the current one, the harvest was 33% lower than the previous period since 870 hectaresversus 1,292 corresponding to the past cycle.
According to the DIEA statement, the drop in planting “motivated by an abundant supply of the autumn 2022 harvest, which generated low prices and commercial difficulties.” On the other hand, they highlighted that “there was a considerable loss of area (8% of the area) due to the water deficit registered during the crop cycle” although “said loss was not greater because 93 % of the crop area was irrigated.
The government alert
Last week, the Minister of Livestock, Agriculture and Fisheries (MGAP), fernando mattosHe announced that in the coming weeks there will be shortages of fruits such as pears and apples and that the government is already analyzing what policies will be carried out to supply the domestic market.
Throughout the last few months, various fruit and vegetable products saw a rise in their consumer prices precisely because of the low supply as a result of the drought.
The import of some foods, such as potatoes and carrots, was authorized by the Executive to keep retail prices stable. The MGAP minister also pointed out that Uruguay must find new options for water supply as more ambitious accumulation and irrigation strategies, added to the search for new sources such as neptune project.
Source: Ambito
