Price for potatoes to go up to 200drams per kilo in January

YEREVAN, November 2. /ARKA/. Price for potatoes is expected to rise up to 200drams per kilogram after the New Year holidays, head of Armenian Agrarian Peasants Union Hrach Berberyan told a press conference Friday.

According to the statistics, average potato price was 140drams per kilo in September 2012.

Crop collection is now completed: big farmers store potatoes to sell them in winter at higher prices, whereas small farmers sell them now, at current prices.

The potato crops reduced by 30-35% this year compared to 2011, Berberyan said. The reduction is caused by poor quality imported seeds and the moth that damaged crops in 45 villages of Ararat and Armavir regions.

“In the beginning, the moth parasitized in two villages only, but now, due to imprudence of farmers and a number of agencies, 45 villages are infected,” Berberyan said pointing to serious problems that potato, tomato and tobacco producers may encounter within the next years if no anti-moth measures are taken.

Berberyan informed that for prevention of further spread of moth among potatoes and other Solanaceae (egg-plants, tobacco, tomatoes, pepper, and etc.) Armenian farmers should plant watermelons, melons, onion and garlic on infected soils instead. He also recommended using intense chemical methods against pests. 

Potato moth is a thermophilic insect that develops not only in summer, but also in winter at temperatures above 10 degrees. The pest adapts easily to moderate latitudes.-0-