OREANDA-NEWS   In 2025, the potato harvest in Russia may grow by 250 thousand tons. This was stated by Alexey Krasilnikov, Executive Director of the Potato and Vegetable Market Participants Union (Potato Union), as quoted by the Izvestia newspaper.

According to the expert, farmers have already increased their acreage by 10,000 hectares, and expanded them based on the results of the sowing campaign. It is possible that against the background of rising potato prices, a number of farmers will return to the sector.

"The preliminary forecast of the Ministry of Agriculture for an increase in potato areas was 6.5 thousand hectares. It was planned that a total of 286 thousand hectares would be planted. However, it has now been increased by 10,000 hectares. Translated into tons with a yield of 25 tons per hectare, at least this year we should expect a plus of 250 thousand tons of harvest," he promised.

In some regions, for example, Kabardino-Balkaria, Stavropol, Krasnodar Territory, Rostov and Astrakhan regions, the first root crops have already begun to be harvested. The higher the proportion of harvested potatoes in Russia, the less they will cost. However, farmers are worried about large volumes of imports, which strongly affect the demand for domestic new potatoes. Therefore, the union called on retailers to ensure access of Russian potatoes to store shelves.

The increase in potato prices in Russia has already been blamed on summer residents, who began to plant less, and attributed it to a shortage of vegetable stores in the Russian Federation, due to which most of the potatoes that were not sold before the frost simply disappear. However, the main reasons for the rise in prices are a reduction in harvest, an increase in production costs, the weather and the lack of European seeds.