Recently, the staple of the Latvian diet – potatoes – experienced one of the steepest price jumps in the past 10 years, reaching an average increase of 50%. Growers are now preparing for the new season in the hope that weather conditions will be favorable enough to finally produce good results after two years of poor harvest, Zemgale Television reported on February 22.
According to Latvian Public Broadcasting, at the end of February and early March, potato-grower warehouses are undergoing an active sorting job to prepare the seed for the new season in good time.
“We usually start sorting the seed at the end of February, and now there is a period when growers are evaluating the situation of what kind of seed they need. They are subject to the rules governing the eradication of quarantine diseases and are obliged by law to plant at least 10% of the total area with certified seed,” said the agrarian service director of Orkla Confectionery & Snacks Ltd., agronomist Ilgvars Krūmiņš.
Whether potatoes will become more expensive this year, experts aren’t sure yet. Last fall, potato producers received 20 cents per kilogram without VAT, which is twice as much compared with fall 2020.
Source: Latvian Public Broadcasting (LTV). Full story here
Photo: Credit LTV
