Autumn potato harvesting has begun in the Khalilabad region. This year, 900 hectares of potatoes were planted in each village. This figure was 260 hectares last year. But I wonder if the beginning of the autumn potato harvest may make potatoes a little cheaper on the market.
“Caspian” newspaper article on the subject.
According to economist Rauf Garayev, the situation of potato production in the country has not been stable in recent years: “If we take into account last year’s potato harvest statistics, the leading region is Gazakh. The economic region where more potatoes are grown in Gazakh-Tovuz If we compare the statistical harvest of 2023, 299.5 in Agstafa, 299.5 in Gadabey 129, 350 in Gazakh, 286.2 in Shamkir, Tovuz. In the Jalilabad region, 303.6 quintals of potatoes were harvested. Regarding production statistics, the country returned to the situation of 2020. In 2023, 1 million 636.8 tons of potatoes were harvested. potato in 2021. In 2022, 1 million 61 thousand 957.7 tons of potatoes were produced. Shamkir increased to 188 thousand 615.7 tons in 2022, if it happens, this figure in 2023. It has decreased to 186 thousand 60. Apparently, potato harvest statistics are not stable Therefore, prices may change depending on the year. .
According to R. Garayev, prices can drop by a maximum of 10 kopecks: “The year 2024 is not over yet. But if we look at the prices on the market, the price of a kilo of large, washed potatoes in the regions was 80 kopecks. If there is abundance, this price will drop by a maximum of 10 to 15 kopecks. The other side of the issue is that potatoes from abroad are cheaper. Local potatoes are also exported to foreign markets. Azerbaijan in the period January-July 2024, 48 thousand 234 tons of potatoes worth 20 million 471 thousand dollars were exported. If we compare the current period with the previous period, we can see that there is a slight decrease in prices. but there is no big difference compared to market prices. The price of potatoes ranged from 70 kopecks to one manat in October last year. slight reductions in prices offered in the regions. This may be short term.
According to the economist, one of the most important points that influence prices is the presence of intermediaries between the citizen and the farmer: “The celebration of fairs can affect prices. The farmer must have direct access to the market, because prices are controlled mainly by intermediaries. The farmer quickly delivered the product he brought. He prefers to spend the night in Baku. In most cases, the sellers say that the products come from one place. product price varies from 2 to 3 manats. In these cases we cannot observe a decrease in price.”
According to Eldar Huseynov, an agricultural expert, one cannot speak of a decrease in prices as a result of what happened in Russia: “The increase in the figures mentioned in the statistics will not be able to affect the market situation. Because the price of potatoes in “Russian markets have increased considerably in recent days. Therefore, large quantities of potatoes are exported to Russia from Azerbaijan and other countries.”
According to the expert, the demand for potatoes in our country is high, but the supply is much less: “There are much fewer potato fields in the Jalilabad region. The harvest will not be enough to satisfy the demand for potatoes in our country. It will be It will be possible to satisfy the demand in just 2 or 3 months. The impact on the domestic market will take a maximum of 10 days. But we cannot say that there will be a decrease in prices in the long term, not even in the near future. price of potatoes can increase considerably for the current year “It is impossible to reduce the price. There is a significant increase in the price of vegetables. However, there is no question of a price reduction.”
