It doesn’t seem that there is a shortage of potatoes in the market, after the recent floods that occurred in communities in Larnaca and the free Famagusta province, which resulted in damage to several crops, according to the representative of the Potato Producers and the Agricultural Association.
Specifically, Andreas Karyos, representative of the Potato Producers, stated that “it seems that the damage suffered by the crops will not be as great as we estimated, however, there will be less potato production.”
Asked whether the damages have been recorded by the officials of the Department of Agriculture, he replied that “some officials visited the fields from the following day of the floods and recorded the problems.
However, it will take up to 20 days or even a month for the problem caused to the production to become apparent, and then we will need to apply for a Damage Declaration.”
Compensation, he continued, will be given “if the Department of Agriculture estimates that the damage exceeds 30%, while if the damage is below 30%, then it remains with the producer and no compensation is received.”
Mr. Karyos answered negatively to a question about whether there will be shortages in the market, noting, however, that “the period we are going through concerns the winter potato crop. Due to diseases and reduced production caused by the floods, the availability of the product will be reduced, while there seems to be an increase in price.”
Regarding exports, he said, “We will try to accommodate traders abroad, unfortunately, however, the losses caused by the heavy rainfall set us back. The losses seem to amount to 40%,” he said, adding that “in previous years, we had a winter potato crop production that reached 50 thousand tons, while this year we will reach only 30 thousand tons.”
On his part, Tassos Yiapanis, General Secretary of the Agricultural Association, stated that “unfortunately, the heavy rains that occurred last week in communities of the free Famagusta province and Larnaca caused damage to the potatoes which had been planted a few days earlier, with the result that the potato seed did not have time to root and absorb the large amounts of rain.”
He added that “many areas were affected, however, we will know in the coming days the extent of the damage and whether there will be a problem with the product shortage in the market, as producers continue to plant potatoes, and we hope that there will be no problem with the product availability in the market.”
Asked whether there will be a problem with potato exports, Mr. Karyos said that “the issue is the contracts that various traders have with markets and their partners abroad. This particular problem will become apparent when the potatoes are uprooted.”
He noted that “it is impossible at this time to say how large the damage caused to the potato fields is.”
The Agricultural Organizations, he continued, “are monitoring the issue, and we have asked the Department of Agriculture to send officers to the affected areas in a few days to record the damages. At the same time, we expect to see whether compensation for the disasters can be put under the Framework Law on Risks, or if the state needs to help outside the specific framework.”