Sustainable Potato Production - Guidelines for - FAO.org

Socio-economic factorsHigh production costsand lack of creditCompared to other food crops, production ofpotatoes is capital-intensive, requiring thepurchase of large quantities of bulky seedand the application of high-cost inputs suchas fertilizers and pesticides. With limitedaccess to credit and few means of mitigatingthe risks of taking out loans, small-scalefarmers find it difficult to compete in potatoproduction. The current global financialcrisis could leave a great number of farmerswith little money and no credit to invest inproduction.Price instabilityWith potato becoming increasingly a cashcrop, small-scale potato growers arevulnerable to abrupt changes in input andoutput prices. Seasonal and year-to-yearprice movements can affect individual smallgrowers who lack the financial resourcesand resilience of larger producers andcooperatives.Inefficiency of local marketsPotato prices are usually determined bysupply and demand, not the vagaries ofinternational markets as in the case ofcereals. It is, therefore, a crop that can helplow-income farmers and consumers to rideout episodes of food price inflation, such asthat experienced worldwide in 2007-08.However, the profitability of potato dependson efficient local markets and measures tocontrol overproduction.Limited access to higher valuemarketsTo be successful, small-scale potato growersneed access to profitable emerging domesticmarkets – such as the rapidly growingprocessing segment – as well as to potatoexport markets. However, access to domesticmarkets is often restricted by the marketingpower of foreign suppliers, while exports areconstrained by trade barriers in developedcountries to processed products from thedeveloping world. However, there areencouraging “success stories” that illustratehow small-scale producers can increaseproduction and expand their market share.In India, potato growers who adapted newtechnology with the support of McCainFoods Ltd more than doubled their yieldsand incomes. Other private industries,including small businesses, have launchedpotato chips made from coloured nativepotatoes that were prototyped by CIP inorder to promote the sustainable use ofbiodiversity in the Andean Region. Recentlegislation in the USA and Europe providegreater access to agricultural products fromthe developing world.15FACTORSCONSTRAININGTHE POTATOSUBSECTOR