Potato cultivation has vigor and health in Castilla y León, and points out ways in terms of quality, with a uniform tuberization.
Yolanda Medina, president of the Interprofessional Potato Organization (Oipacyl), highlights the role that meteorology has had in planting. The first block of plantations took place in the last three weeks of March, especially in the provinces of Zamora, Salamanca and Valladolid, with a suitable temperature and after a good soil preparation, “unlike what had happened in the year previous”.
In April the rains multiplied, so the sowing had to wait until the 20th and lasted until mid-May. The work has already been generalized throughout Castilla y León, for the later varieties. Right now “the crop is in a delicate moment due to the succession of storms, so it would be desirable for the plant to be treated against mildew”, Medina recalls.
Surface descent
The cultivated area is 17,331 hectares , according to the data provided by the Board, which for Yolanda Medina represents “a less marked decrease than was anticipated at the end of last year.” Even so, the crop loses 1,041 hectares, which represents a fall of 5.6% in Castilla y León, and adds to the reduction that had already been registered last year. Then the potato lost 792 hectares, which was 4% less than in 2019. The surface figures are moving away from the 19,164 hectares of that year.
Bad behavior of foreign markets
The campaign began in Andalusia and the Region of Murcia with a good disposition to start the startups earlier than in other years, only that the work had to wait because of the weather. Andalusia did it with lower yields than in other years, while the region of Cartagena registered similar productions.
Yolanda Medina misses having a crystal ball that allows her to see how consumption will behave in the coming months. What is already known is that a problem for producers and operators in the south of Spain has been in the foreign market, with exports reduced to a minimum and many tons stored in chambers awaiting operations.
Albacete will be the next area to take out the potato , this year with a surface very similar to that of 2020 and with good quality in the tuber. Yolanda Medina recalls that this area has already been for three years coinciding with the start in the earliest areas of Castilla y León. The next three weeks will be “fundamental” to analyze the situation of the crop and the demand, and from there make decisions, although it is most likely that the community will advance the start-ups somewhat.
For the president of the Potato Interprofessional , what should prevail is the search for quality and the formats demanded by the market. That is why the farmer must avoid blows and, especially, wait for the soil to meet the conditions. “When the potato is plucked with the soil too wet, the earth is usually rougher and the tuber suffers, which ends up depreciating.”
What worries is the block of sowings of the last three weeks of March. There is no quality or health problem, but they are very aware that there is a staggered start or a funnel occurs when a lot of potatoes are removed at the same time , as has happened on so many occasions.
What about tourism?
Much of the Spanish economy will depend on the tourist campaign this summer, and the potato is no stranger to it. Yolanda Medina foresees a greater impact of national tourism than in other years, but perhaps not enough to compensate for the lower influx of foreign tourists than is usual in Spain .
In any case, he is optimistic and highlights that, compared to last year, the increase in visitors from other nationalities “is going to be very remarkable, since in 2020 tourism was almost non-existent.” These tourists will demand potatoes especially through the hotel industry, another of the pending sectors of the pandemic and international travel.
