According to experts from the market, the Russian capacity for processing potatoes is set to increase by 50% in 2022, combined with the production of tubers on personal subsidiary plots, and a fall in yields may generate a spud shortage.
“All this threatens a shortage of local tubers for consumers,” specialists say.
Market players recently told the Ministry of Agriculture that without subsidizing production, only imports can replace the potato shortage.
Based on the chairman of the Union of Potato and Vegetable Market Participants, Sergei Lupekhin, quoted by the Russian media, about 1m tons of potatoes were processed in the country. Nevertheless, in 2022 it will go up to 1.5m tons, and by 2026 – already up to 3m tons, Kommersant writes.
It is also noted that there is a risk of a shortage of potato flakes in the market. The cost of raw materials can rise by 50%. And there may also be an increase in prices for imported raw materials.
Simultaneously, the Russian Ministry of Agriculture stressed that the preconditions for increasing the harvest of potatoes have already been created. According to the ministry, as of December 2, 6.68m tons of potatoes were harvested in the Russian Federation, while in 2020 these figures were equal to 6.64m tons. Likely, by the end of 2021, the figure will increase to 6.71m tons. Next year, experts say, it is already expected to reach 7.2m tons.
