This year, the potato harvest is expected to be higher than last year—nearly 7.5 million tons compared to 7.3 million tons, and by 2030, production is forecast to increase to 8.6 million tons, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, said Alexey Krasilnikov, executive director of the Potato Union, at the conference "Agroinvestor: PRO Crop Production." The Union believes this forecast is achievable. "According to our estimates, this season's potato yield has increased by 20-30% compared to last year, and despite the slight expansion of areas, we may even approach a harvest of 8 million tons," Krasilnikov assessed. Since the early 2000s, production in the commercial sector has quadrupled—from 2 million tons to a record 8.6 million tons in 2023, he recalled. However, the expert emphasized that this record partly eluded potato growers: the price from October to May was extremely low—averaging around 10 RUB/kg, and several players left the market in the 2024/25 season. For the 2024 ...