According to representatives of the Association of Potato Growers of Moldova, the first potatoes harvested from the fields under plastic film will go on sale around May 5-10, that is, in a time close to the average. The cool weather that settled in the second half of April will probably not slow down the ripening.
The association believes that, despite the multi-level crisis, there are good conditions for the sale of early potatoes this year. First, there will probably be relatively few of locally produced early potatoes this year. Farms in several southern and eastern regions of the country have been specializing in their cultivation for many years. According to expert estimates, the total area of their fields in the best seasons was about 300-400 ha. However, it has been rapidly declining in the last two or three years due to competition with imported early potatoes, as well as due to a reorientation towards the production of late potatoes. By the way, the most pronounced increase in potato prices last season was in the winter and spring months of this year.
Secondly, local early potatoes will probably go on sale almost simultaneously with imported ones this year (sales of imported potatoes at the end of the last decade started earlier and at a higher price). In 2022, it is still cold in the regions of Romania, from which early expensive potatoes are exported for the Moldovan market.
Thirdly, early potatoes have become a niche, store product over the previous two years of the pandemic. Their price – presumably 20-25 MDL/kg ($1.08-1.36/kg) in the chain retail this year – will not contrast too much with the price of last year’s washed potatoes packed in nets or in casseroles and flowpack bags.
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