Warehouses are currently paying seventy cents for potatoes from Bergantiños. The latest harvest was very poor and the price has consequently skyrocketed, although distributors working in the area still remember campaigns when the tuber reached prices of up to 1 Euro. This situation is likely to be recorded again, since the price peak was reached in late March and there is already very little product in storage.
Only a stroll around the markets of Carballo and Paiosaco is enough to come to terms with the fact that buying potatoes is already very difficult. Growers barely have any surplus left.
Furthermore, the high temperatures registered in November reduced the product's shelf life and only professionals with chambers may have access to sufficient quality potatoes at this time. Even though the crop has developed quicker, the white-fleshed Kennebec variety, which is the one produced in the area, is still tasty and has kept its organoleptic properties.
Prospects for the next harvest are also not too good. The timing of rainfall and the temperatures have been far from ideal. It was hot when it was no longer to be expected and it rained too late. Last spring was extremely dry and was also followed by a summer with little rainfall. Water shortages affected the crop at the time when it was most needed.
Now the fields should already be dry. The time for the planting is approaching and many fields are filled with water, which makes it difficult to work with tractors.
Moreover, the practice of starting earlier with the harvest to prevent the impact of mildew, which usually arrives in late June, has not exactly been possible precisely because of the excessive moisture. The cycle, ahead of the the summer, will likely be extended, which will leave the crop exposed to more pests. And to this problem, we must add the difficulties in acquiring plant protection products, because of the new legislation.
