Following days of uncertainty regarding the availability of potatoes in the country, Potatoes SA’s chief executive officer, Willie Jacobs, stepped forward to clarify the situation and address the widespread concerns.
Jacobs this evening stated that the potato supply for 2024 remains stable and that reports of potato shortages and excessively high prices are over-exaggerated and unlikely to materialise.
“Frost was widely reported in Limpopo during the winter months of 2024, resulting in limited growth of potatoes. However, a Potatoes SA survey conducted among potato producers in Limpopo shows that potatoes were in different growth stages when the frost occurred, meaning not all potato plantings were ruined,” he said.
Jacobs added that while it has been difficult to quantify the yields lost, data indicates that 3 674 hectares were affected in Limpopo, with a possible average yield loss of 32%. He said this was likely to translate into a 3% reduction in potato supply from the five-year average nationwide.
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Frost impact on potato supply
“We expect fewer extra-large and large potatoes, and more medium and small potatoes, for the period of September and October in Limpopo,” he said.
Jacobs noted that, to date, the market has received 208 000 ten-kilogram bags more than what had been received at this time in 2023. The average price for the first 34 weeks of 2024 was R2.22 lower than the 2023 price for the first 34 weeks of the year.
“South Africa is fortunate to have potato production spread across a wide range of regions and provinces. This greatly reduces the risk of weather-related shocks in the market,” Jacobs said.
In the past week, M&R Marketing issued a letter stating that the country should expect a potato shortage and that the situation was likely to be worse in September.
“Farmers experienced frost for six days straight a few weeks ago. They had not seen frost like that for 20 years. That frost destroyed potato crops.
“With shortages of stock come price increases and often quality issues,” the M&R Marketing letter stated. Efforts to get further comment from M&R Marketing were unsuccessful.
Meanwhile, Leona Archary, chief executive of the Agricultural Development Agency (Agda), said the frost was likely to impact pricing in the coming weeks.
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