Tunisia Sets 2026 Potato Reserve at 12,392 Tonnes, with Nabeul Holding 61% of National Stock

Tunisia’s Ministry of Agriculture, Water Resources, and Fisheries has announced that the regulatory reserve of consumer potatoes for 2026 will total 12,392 tonnes, with the governorate of Nabeul storing 7,516 tonnes—accounting for 61% of the national stock. The declaration came during a field visit by Minister Ezzeddine Ben Cheikh to Nabeul to oversee the implementation of the regulatory stock program and to follow up on the national seed potato multiplication initiative. During the visit, the minister inspected a refrigeration center in Souleiman, part of the Interprofessional Vegetable Group, where he reviewed storage conditions and verified compliance with technical and sanitary standards aimed at preserving product quality. He also toured several private cold storage facilities partnering in the program, examining stored quantities, quality assurance procedures, and the status of domestic seed stocks produced under the national multiplication scheme.

According to ministry data, the regulatory stock is distributed across 21 storage centers, 10 of which are located in Nabeul. The Interprofessional Vegetable Group directly manages 3,338 tonnes, while 9,054 tonnes are held by private operators under storage and marketing agreements with the Group. The minister also visited the cold storage center and experimental station in Korba, where he reviewed research on seed multiplication and agronomic and technological evaluations of vegetable varieties candidates for official registration. Minister Ben Cheikh emphasized that the regulatory stock program is a critical tool for ensuring a steady market supply of potatoes and stabilizing prices. He further stressed the importance of strengthening domestic seed potato production as a pillar of food sovereignty and a means to reduce import dependency, while continuing investments to expand production and storage capacities to meet the sector’s needs.