APPAPA Peru: 2017 Potato Production in Peru comparable to last year

Peru's National Association of Potato Growers and Derivatives (APPAPA Peru) estimates the 2017 potato production in Peru will be 40,000 tonnes, a volume comparable to the production last year..

This was stated by the president of Peru APPAPA, Victoriano Fernandez Morales, who said that climate change was affecting the potato production, which could decrease production, just as the drought caused a drop in the previous year.

The 2017 production will consist of 30% native potatoes, 40% yellow-flesh potatoes and 30% white-flesh potatoes.

Victoriano Fernandez said that the majority of the production was destined for the local markets in each region and to the Great Wholesale Market in Lima (GMML). To a lesser extent, the potatoes would end up in restaurants in Lima and in a well-known supermarket in Peru.

He explained APPAPA Peru represents nearly 2,000 potato growers from 14 regions of Peru (Puno, Huanuco, Cusco, Cajamarca, Huancavelica, Junín, La Libertad, Apurimac, Ayacucho, Pasco, Ancash, Arequipa, Lima, and Ica).

Fernandez Morales pointed out that each grower cultivates an average of 1.5 hectares of potatoes with an average yield of 14 tonnes per hectare.