In total, there are 4,000 hectares of potatoes in the Campo de Cartagena, almost 2,000 more than last year. Producers expected to harvest about 140 million kilos of potatoes which would be sold, mainly, in the Spanish markets, according to data from the Coordination of Farmers' and Livestock Organizations (Coag) of the Campo de Cartagena.

However, there will be a considerable reduction in production due to the accumulation of water in the fields and the failure to treat the pests, given the impossibility of entering the crops due to the accumulation of mud. In recent weeks, 300 liters of rainwater per square meter have fallen in this area.

"We'll have to leave much of the harvest in the land because of root asphyxiation," stated Salvador Mellinas, a farmer from El Algar.

Producers expected to have a good campaign this year because the old French potato, the most sold variety in the markets before the Spanish production enters the market, is scarce and of poor quality.

According to the president of Coag Cartagena, Vicente Carrion, now producers are worried about the arrival of potatoes from Israel and Egypt, two countries that normally sold their production to Russia, but that, due to the war in Ukraine, will now sell it in Europe.

Source - https://www.freshplaza.com