Russian Federation increased potato exports by 36 percent

Roman Nekrasov, director of the crop production department of the Ministry of Agriculture, has proclaimed that, in the first nine months of 2020, Russia exported 254,800 tons of potatoes (both table and seed), which is almost 36% more than in the same period last year.

According to Nekrasov, the main buyers of their seed potatoes are Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Serbia, Turkmenistan, and Belarus. And table potatoes are in demand in Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Georgia, Moldova, Tajikistan.

Nevertheless, while potato imports are declining, they still exceed exports. Over the first nine months of 2020, 293,400 tons were imported to Russia (2019: 298,300 tons). At the same time, potatoes were supplied mostly in the off-season, in March-June.

This means it is necessary to develop capacities for storing potatoes in Russia. So far, they are enough to store 4,5 million tons of products per year. According to Roman Nekrasov, by 2025 the country will produce 7,575 million tons of potatoes, and thus we will reach the target of self-sufficiency (at least 95%). According to Nekrasov, Russia has every chance of joining the top three potato producers.

In 2020, according to forecasts of the Ministry of Agriculture, 7,55 million tons will be collected in Russia (7,57 million tons last year).