Peruvian potato: Obstacles to the opening of 32 new export markets

Although it has more than 3,500 varieties of potato, Peru is far from being a great exporter of this fresh tuber: in 2020 it exported 16,601 tons to the world, while shipments of fresh asparagus, for example, totaled 119,022 tons. in the same year. The main obstacle to increasing potato sales abroad is access to a limited number of markets, said Celfia Obregón, executive director of CITE Papa y Cultivos Andinos. Obregón considers that Peru has the potential to export thousands of tons more of fresh potato, since it is the main producer of this tuber in Latin America and there is a huge world market for this food. “In the world, potatoes are moved fresh in 25-kilogram containers. Just as we are the cradle of thousands of potato varieties, we also have many plagues and plaster imposes restrictions on us in many markets. We can only export when there is a phytosanitary agreement, but we only have it with a few countries. Midagri must promote the opening of new markets ”, he tells ...