Since September last year the potato price has steadily dropped from an average price of over R40 for a 10kg pocket to under R20.
“The reason for the price decrease is simple,” said Potato South Africa’s Pieter van Zyl. “Where other food types are experiencing shortages there are enough potatoes on the market to meet demand.”
But Van Zyl believes the price could increase in the coming months.
“While we had one of our best June months in a long time in terms of the volume of potatoes produced and the volume sold, the prices of fuel, chemicals and fertilisers are rising,” he said. “We’re also expecting to lose hectares as farmers swap to farming maize but it’s really difficult to say for sure by just how much it will go up.”
Van Zyl said: “SA has got 16 potato growing regions spread out across the country. At least 80 percent of the land is under irrigation, so if there is a drought it will affect crop production but it’s not a catastrophe.”
Another reason is that only seven percent of our total crop is exported.
