Regarding the campaign, which is expected to start soon in this region, José Ramón Aguado, president of the association, pointed out that prospects are "infinitely better than last year's," mostly, among other circumstances, as a result of the 35% reduction in the acreage at national level and the also very noteworthy reduction in Castile-Leon, "although less marked than shown by CAP statistics, because according to the data we have on seeds sold, the reduction would amount to about 3,600 hectares compared to the previous campaign (data supplied by the Council of Agriculture point to 18,788 hectares compared to 20,687 in the previous season). It is also worth noting that 600 hectares have been converted for the production of potatoes for processing instead of for fresh consumption."
"All these circumstances will lead to a 15% drop in production volumes, affirms Aguado, so hopefully prices will reflect that and reach between 0.18 and 0.25 Euro per kilo, depending on the variety."
ASOPOCyL has advised growers to remain calm at the start of the campaign and to make staggered shipments depending on market demand.
Another issue addressed at the meeting has been the promotional campaign carried out by the Association, "fully funded by it," intended to convince consumers to consume fresh potatoes instead of that coming from other countries at certain times of the year, especially in winter and part of spring, after spending 11 months in cold storage. In this sense, and to finish his statement to the media, the President of ASOPOCyL stressed the importance of creating an interprofessional organisation in order to launch campaigns to promote the consumption of potatoes and halt the decline (of up to 12%) registered in recent years.
