Harvesting

Nicaragua: Agriculture Ministry Reports 144,100 Quintals of Potatoes Harvested in September

Nicaragua's Ministerio Agropecuario says eight northern municipalities harvested about 6,500 tonnes of potatoes in September, mainly for the domestic market.

Nicaragua harvested 144,100 quintals of potatoes in September 2026, the Ministerio Agropecuario (MAG) said in figures reported on 23 September by Canal 6 and El Diario Nica.

A Central American quintal is 100 pounds, or about 45.4 kilograms, so the September harvest amounts to roughly 6,500 tonnes.

The harvest came from eight municipalities in the country’s northern highlands: Estelí, Condega, Jinotega, La Concordia, San Sebastián de Yalí, Matagalpa, San Rafael del Norte and Tuma-La Dalia. The ministry said the crop is destined mainly for domestic consumption.

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MAG credited good yields to crop management practices, listing fertilisation, hilling (earthing up), weed control and plant protection. It did not publish figures for planted area, yield per hectare or prices.

Both media reports repeat the same ministry release, and Canal 6 is a state-aligned broadcaster. In practice the figures rest on a single government source and cannot be checked against independent data.

Nicaragua publishes monthly potato harvest figures during the season. potatoes.news reported on July production earlier this year (read the July report) and on sharp price increases in August (here).

The ministry’s list of municipalities places the September harvest in the northern departments of Estelí, Jinotega and Matagalpa. Neighbouring Honduras has recently moved to tighten import controls on potatoes to support its own growers (see the report).

Without area or yield data, the September total cannot be compared with previous seasons, and it is not possible to say whether it points to a larger or smaller crop than last year.

Why it matters

Monthly harvest figures are one of the few official data points on Central American potato supply. For traders and importers in the region, a steady domestic harvest in Nicaragua affects how much room there is for imported potatoes, but the lack of price and area data limits what can be concluded.

Photo: Farmland outside Jinotega, Nicaragua (illustrative). Serenityweb1 / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0

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