Egypt Set For Strong Seed Potato Season

Published 2021년 4월 22일

The 2020/21 Egyptian seed potato season has started positively. The initial batches of Egyptian potatoes for the 2021 harvest have reached destinations such as Belgium and Russia. Russia is currently Egypt's primary market, importing a value of USD 3.4M in 2019. Egyptian potatoes are more expensive this year. Egypt is exporting fewer potatoes to the EU and more to Russia, as the Russian market offers better returns and is more favorable for Egyptian traders. Tridge interviewed Mohamed Younes, the Quality Control Engineer at Chipsy For Food Industries, to gain further insight.

This year's volumes have increased in comparison to last season, and demand has remained steady. Seed potato farmers remain concerned about climate change, and farmers manage this through the effective use of irrigation and fertilizer. The acreage of Egyptian potatoes has remained stable in recent years. Due to the economic effect of COVID-19, Egypt suffered heavy losses in 2020. As a result, potato acreage may stay the same in the coming year as well.

A good fledgling season expected

According to Younes, Chipsy For Food Industries aim to ship their potatoes abroad for the first time this year.

"This season for potatoes has been really good. We can achieve 85% of the objectives we initially set, which is a great percentage given the current situation in the world. Seed potato demand is still good. At least the rate of demand hasn't dropped below that of previous years. Volumes are also really good, significantly better than last year. We're marketing our products domestically at the moment, but we have plans to export to a number of foreign countries this year, such as Pakistan this season."

Chipsy For Food Industries’ Potato Farm.

Challenges faced

According to Younes, one of the significant challenges that farmers have to deal with in Egypt is the changing climate conditions. Younes explains that they have had to irrigate more vigorously during dry spells and fertilize timeously. However, bacterial infections have been the main problem for Chipsy For Food Industries this year, and the company has overcome these infections by taking the necessary precautions.

"We have had a long season of relentless hard work to reach the highest production and quality, to provide our consumers with the best produce in the Egyptian market. We've done it all to achieve our goal of expanding seed potato production and exporting internationally." Younes concluded.