Australia: Imports trouble potato and tomato growers

Figures released by the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES)’s Outlook 2016 agricultural commodities report, paint a somewhat bleak picture for Australian potato and tomato growers. Although the overall value of the industries are buoyant, processed tomato and potato imports are dragging down the local sector. Australian potato production, by volume, declined slowly from 1.3 million tonnes in 2000–01 to 1.2 million tonnes in 2013–14. For tomatoes, Australian production declined by an average of 1.8 per cent a year between 2000–01 and 2013–14. The report said domestic demand for fresh potatoes has grown, but demand for processing potatoes has declined because of “strong competition from imports”. More