After a disastrous season in 2014, with prices of 4 cents per kilo, the sale of potatoes from A Limia is currently going well only a month after the official end of the harvest.
The manager of the INORDE agricultural development centre in Xinzo, Servando Álvarez, confirmed that around 60% of the production has already been sold. "It's a lot more than last year, almost double the volume," said Álvarez. "At that time there were actually even potatoes under contract that were still unharvested," he adds. Twelve months ago, the marketed volume only stood at around 30%.
Prices so far this season have ranged between 20 and 25 cents per kilo, depending on the variety, for the more than 55 million kilos sold of the total 95 million harvested in August, September and October. The shortage in the supply from other Spanish producing areas has played a crucial part in this good start for the campaign.
"Eventually, production this year, despite a relative fall compared to 2014, stood at around 95 million kilos. In irrigated areas, like Sandiás, the yield per hectare was good. It was not the case in many other farms in other parts of the region, where drought and high temperatures did take a toll on the crop," adds Álvarez.
Good condition
The rest of the harvest is still stored in warehouses and is in good condition, as in recent weeks there have been no heavy frosts or moisture.
Producers expect an upturn in prices to be able to obtain some additional turnover from those nearly 40 million kilos left to be marketed.
In storage until spring
Servando Álvarez said the A Limia has a special peculiarity compared to other major producing areas of Spain, like regions of Castile-Leon and Andalusia, which is that part of the production is stored. "In other places, the potatoes are sold within a few weeks after the harvest. Here the producers have good warehouses that allow them to keep the tuber for months in good condition," he noted.
In recent years, the option of storing the potatoes and waiting for a possible increase in prices has resulted in profits for the growers, but also in substantial losses, like those recorded last year. In 2014, the total loss of revenue from sales is estimated to have amounted to around ten million Euro. Huge swings in commodity prices from one year to the next are characteristic of A Limia's potato market. The implementation of standardised contracts (supervised by the administration) was not possible back in the day, although there were contracts between storage houses and producers.
