Colombia (Boyacá): “Potato Producers Are Broken” — Farmers Raise the Alarm Over Price Collapse and Rising Costs

Agricultural producers in the department of Boyacá—Colombia’s primary potato-growing region—are warning of a deep economic crisis. Representatives of farming associations are openly speaking of the ruin of hundreds of farms caught between collapsing wholesale prices and record-high input costs.

The department of Boyacá supplies a significant share of fresh potatoes to Colombia’s domestic market, including major metropolitan hubs. However, the current situation threatens the very survival of the region’s small and medium-sized family farms.

Key Drivers of the Sector’s Crisis

• Plummeting Farmgate Prices: At the country’s main wholesale distribution centers and markets, fresh potato prices have dropped well below the cost of production. Revenues from crop sales fail to cover even the basic expenses of harvesting and transportation.
• High Input Costs: Expenditures on mineral fertilizers, certified seed, crop protection products, and diesel fuel remain at peak levels, draining farmers’ working capital.
• Import and Contraband Pressure: An influx of processed potato products (notably frozen French fries) along with illegal shipments from neighboring countries is exacerbating the supply-demand imbalance in the domestic market.
• Heavy Debt Burden: Many growers took out loans to purchase planting material and agrochemicals in anticipation of a stable season and are now unable to service their financial obligations to banks.

Farmers’ Demands to the Government

Boyacá potato growers are urging Colombia’s Ministry of Agriculture to take immediate steps to stabilize the sector:

1. Direct Financial Aid: Introducing compensations and subsidies for the purchase of essential agrochemicals and seed potatoes.
2. Debt Restructuring: Granting growers grace periods and favorable terms for loan interest repayments.
3. Market Protection: Tightening controls on processed potato imports and stepping up enforcement against cross-border smuggling.

Farming unions warn that without swift government intervention, the widespread bankruptcy of potato producers will lead to reduced planting areas in upcoming seasons, inevitably triggering shortages and sharp price spikes for end consumers nationwide.