Faced with a historic collapse in potato yield potentials as a result of extreme heat and drought, the UNPT calls for an immediate response from economic and government actors to support French production.
The most recent samples confirm a historic deterioration in national yields of at least -20% when compared to the average of the last twenty years, i.e. 1.5m tons lost (40,000 ha brought to the surface). The average loss for non-irrigated potatoes could even reach -30%, with extremes reaching -50%.
The harvest, which for all it takes seems to be disastrous despite planting conditions that foreshadowed a good 2022-2023 campaign, is the consequence of excessive heat correlated with severe drought, which halted tuber development. Neither precipitation nor mild temperatures will be able to reverse this trend.
As a result, French potato producers, particularly those delivering to industry and starch factories, anticipate a “dark” year and are bracing for significant financial losses that could total more than EUR200m in production, according to preliminary estimates.
“To guarantee the economic sustainability of farms that invest very important capital in this culture and to ensure the plantations for 2023-2024, the UNPT calls for the general mobilization of all the economic players in the sector (industry, traders, distribution) and public authorities to allow the “patatiers” to cross this historical threshold,” the UNPT experts wrote in their last press release.
The UNPT is now calling for a revaluation of producer prices and a better distribution of added value, particularly with large retailers, as well as the easing of contracts for committed volumes not delivered by producers and the rapid start of a reflection on the establishment of an exceptional State aid scheme aimed at financially supporting producers and encouraging them to continue production.
“The UNPT remains categorical on this point: the producers will not take sole responsibility for the exceptional losses caused by this extraordinary climatic episode. Also, the UNPT requests an emergency meeting with the [French] Minister of Agriculture to make an update on the situation sector by sector (fresh, industry, starch) and initiate the first measures for the short and medium term which will allow France to maintain its rank as the leading exporter world potato market, a strategic rank for the defense of food sovereignty national and European,” the UNPT representatives added.
A source: https://www.potatobusiness.com
